Soul Eater: What Happens Next?
by eiramrose
Summary: They thought that after the defeat of Asura that everything would go back to normal and that their troubles were over. They couldn't have been more far off. With a new threat, Maka and company will find help from some of the most unexpected people.     ON HIATUS, BEING TOTALLY REDONE. Just look away. Unless you really wanna read this. Then read away.
1. The Missing Miester

Soo, I really hope you all like this story. I've taken a lot of time into making the story line and all of my created characters so that there will be plenty of twists and turns. There are going to be romances and all that jazz too(; **NOOOWW** time for some key info:

This story takes place after the kishin Asura is defeated. I still don't know how far after, so I just say months, but it might be a year or so (all I know is that it's long enough for Maka to get boobs.). Also, some events kind of don't follow what happens in the anime, and the manga events aren't in this at all (I'm pretty sure I'm never gonna read the manga...oh well.), and some characters may be off... deal with it. The rating is T for now, but it's subject to change.

**_'_**_things that look like this are private thoughts'_

anything else that is** bolded** is just being very stressed. obvious I know.

**OKAY**, that's all that i can think of right now! Enjoyyy(:

**(7/29)Edit: I'm going back through my chapters and fixing any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and random typing mishaps. I'll also by making doubly sure that everything is more flowy and that nothing is unbearably and awkwardly written and/or placed. This is for my OCD with writting and so that everyone who reads this/is reading this can find it that much more enjoyable. **

**Also, I maaay take away bits of information that seems like too much too soon, and I may even add information that will make parts make more sense. Sobe on the lookout for that (If you're already invested in this story. If you're just reading it for the first time now, don't even worry about it)**

**At the end of the chapters I'll probably give a little rundown of what got changed, just for the hell of it**

I don't own Soul Eater

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 1**

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><p>Three figures stood on a cliffs edge in the humid Nevada desert.<p>

"Hm. Death City... Just as creepy looking as I remember." The figure who said this was a young woman, no more than 19 years old. She had long light brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. Her skin was a light tan and she looked like one of the girls that every modeling agency was after. Her dark eyes looked down at the city that she and her companions used to reside. "Only it looks like the big guy made a slight change…"

To her left, a male with messy sandy blonde hair rolled his dark blue eyes at her comment. "Yes, because Lord Death putting his entire goddamn soul over all of Death City is definitely a slight change."

"Shut up, Lance. Last time we were here it was completely different." She shot back. Her tone was harsher than expected.

"Hey now, I was agreeing with you. No need to be all bitchy about it."

"It was the _**way**_ you agreed with me. Stop acting like a 5 year old." The girl crossed her arms over her chest and ungracefully plopped down to the ground, her legs dangling off the cliffs edge. Lance had a severely confused look on his face.

"You've gotta be kidding me, Sierra! You're gonna get mad at me because of _**that**_? What the hell?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked in the opposite direction of his friend. A few feet on the other side of Sierra, another girl was lying in the sand, her headphones were blaring some unnamable song. Her hair was long and a bright red velvet color. She sported choppy bangs and an overall choppy cut to it. The girl had a content look on her face, hands behind her head, eye closed. She almost looked like she was sleeping. _'Maybe this stupid trip won't be a total loss… I can get a good tan.'_

"Sorry, Lance. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Ha, it's cool. I know this heat is worse than Florida's. At least you aren't being as whiney as Ember." Sierra smiled and got up.

"Well, we've wasted enough time just staring at the place. I say we head back to everyone else." She looked down at the girl laying beside her. "Oh Ember, what a huge help you are…" She kicked some sand over her friend, effectively getting her up.

**"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?"** Lance couldn't help but laugh.

"We're heading back. We thought you might wanna join us, _**Sleeping Beauty**_." Ember's face lit up in embarrassment.

"I wasn't actually asleep! And you know how much I hate just sitting around!" She crossed her arms and started walking towards camp.

Sierra and Lance exchanged a glance before following her. The trip back was fairly quiet, apart from somd complaints every now and then from Ember. Their camp was set up in the middle of a very large and very strange rock formation. It provided the perfect protection because of how the rocks stood, in almost a perfect circle, with many smaller sharper ones randomly about. Most of the rocks were smooth, making gripping them almost impossible. The odd formation of them also supplied some much needed shade for them, but it was, as Ember so eloquently put it, a total bitch to climb. It also didn't help that it was nowhere close to where they had been previously doing recon.

"Why did we let Kiara pick where we set up camp? I know she's super great at it, but she always picks the most ridiculous places. There were like 50 bazillion caves and rocks that we just passed that were soo much easier to get to." Sierra rolled her eyes at her friend's complaints. Lance just shook his head.

"Last time I checked, whenever she picks our sites, we never have to worry about keeping watch, and we never get attacked. Remember what happened last time we all let you pick where our campsite would be? Oh that's right; we got attacked by Kishin eggs almost instantly!"

"Well who was in charge of scouting out the area to make sure we weren't being followed? Oh right, **YOU**."

"**HEY!** Trace was too! It wasn't just me."

"So it was **BOTH** of your faults!"

"Well maybe if you could actually pick a decent place to rest, it wouldn't have happened!" Sierra couldn't take their bickering anymore. The heat had been eating away at them all day, and if she didn't stop them now, they'd probably kill each other before they made it back to camp.

"Will you guys shut up! Yes, Ember sucks at picking campsites. We already knew that! Yes, Trace and Lance suck at scouting out areas. Just get over it!" The two grumbled at each other and then looked in opposite directions. Ember tooklone last second to stick her tongue out at Sierra and then stormed ahead. Lance glanced over at his companion.

"Since when do you yell?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have had too if you two would just chill. We're almost back, and it'd be really nice to go the last five minutes without you two yelling at each other." She turned to face Lance, "And you know, you didn't need to be such an ass to Ember."

"Yeah. I'll apologize later." He started to walk again when he was stopped. Sierra had wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his back. Taking the hint, Lance lifted her onto his back, giving her the piggyback ride she desired. "You're so lazy."

"Noo, I just don't see why I need to walk the rest of the way in this sand and then all the way up those rocks, when I can have my strong and handsome weapon carry me." She made sure to sound as seductive as possible, which was one thing she was exceptionally well at, just to get an extra rise out of Lance. A bright blush appeared on his face.

"Yeah, yeah I. Whatever…"

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><p><strong>In Death City<strong>

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><p>It was an average morning in Death City. Maka was already up and getting ready for school, while Soul was still dead asleep. After his alarm went off for the billionth time, he decided it would probably be a good idea to get up willingly, rather than facing his miester's wrath. He rolled out of his oversized bed and glanced at his clock<em>. 'Hm, I still have over 45 minutes to get ready? Cool.'<em> Soul picked out his clothes, a pair of jeans, a solid black T-shirt, the new black sneakers that Maka got him for his birthday, and the headband he always sported. After he was done getting ready, Soul headed to the bathroom, completely unaware that Maka had just finished her shower.

"**MAKA CHOP!**"

"**AH, MAKA!** I swear I didn't know you were in here!"

"Likely story. You pervert." Maka snidely remarked.

"I just woke up! The door was already open a little bit, the water wasn't running, and there was no sign that anyone was in here! And besides, I didn't see anything!" Soul shot back.

"Maybe if you had, oh I don't know, **KNOCKED**, you would have realized I was in here!"

"Why the hell would I knock on a door that was already open?"

"Umm, because there's a girl living here too, you ass!"

"Maybe if that girl would shut the goddamn door, or make her presence known sooner, I wouldn't have seen her naked in the shower!" Maka's eyes widened.

"**SO YOU DID LOOK!"**

"Wha- **NO!**"

"**SOUL, YOU PERVERT!**" Soul didn't even have time to react to the book that crushed into his skull. He really hadn't seen anything. Well, a lot of anything. Soul hadn't meant to look over when he heard the shower curtain open, nor had he meant to look at his miester's developed chest. But he had. And even though he looked away before Maka saw him looking directly at her, he couldn't hide the nosebleed. He was now standing at their front door waiting for Maka to finish getting dressed. _'Today is going to be so uncool.'_

15 minutes later, Maka came out of her room. Soul took a quick second to take in his miester. She had long forgotten her pigtails, and now alternated between her hair being down, in one single ponytail, or in a messy bun. Today she wore it in a messy bun. She had ditched her uniform and trench coat she always sported. In their place she had on short jean shorts and a fitted white tank top that unintentionally helped show off her more mature body. She also wore Soul's old yellow and black jacket. Maka had borrowed it one night when she was going out Liz and the girls, and it had never made it back to Soul, not that he had really cared. He didn't know why, but he liked seeing Maka in his clothes, which is probably how she had ended up acquiring three of his old shirts, two of his hoodies, and two of his sweatpants. She kept her boots that she had always worn, since they were broken in and very comfortable. Maka made a quick trip to the kitchen to get an apple, and then made her way to where Soul was. He had hoped she was over what had happened, but he knew he was wrong when she walked right past him and out the door without a word. Soul sighed before following his miester.

"So uncool."

To say the walk to school was awkward would be a complete understatement. Maka hadn't look at Soul, and almost seemed to be going out of her way to keep it that way. Soul may not always be the most observant partner ever, but it didn't take much to see how embarrassed, exposed, and mad Maka was. _'Was it really that big a deal? She's accidentally walked in on me in the shower. She's even walked in on me while I was in the middle of changing. I didn't give her a fucking concussion because of it. I didn't even make a big deal about it afterwords. Ugh, whatever. I'll never understand women.'_

Maka was a head of Soul, her arms crossed over her chest and she was glaring straight ahead of her. _'He's such an ass. He knows I _**_ALWAYS_**_ take showers in the morning. Even if it __did __look like no one was in there... Even Blair knocks before entering any of the rooms in our apartment. I mean, I know I've accidentally walked in on him a few times, but that's only because he wouldn't respond to my knock! And then he tries to lie about looking at me? Maybe if he didn't have a nosebleed that could be believable. But that wasn't the case. He's such a pig. Even when I walked in on him those few times, I _**_NEVER_**_ decided to check him out!'_Something made Maka rethink that. After a few seconds, something dawned on her. _'Shit.'_ Maka thought back to a few months ago, a little bit after the Kishin Asura had been defeated.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

* * *

><p>She had been up late doing her and Souls' laundry. She was on her way to bed when she heard a weird noise down the hall. It only took her a second to figure out that the noise was originating from Soul's room. Against her better judgment, Maka decided to investigate. She had been about a foot from his door when she heard a low moan. Her mind went back to earlier that night when Soul had complained about the chicken being undercooked, to which he received a Maka Chop. <em>'Maybe I did undercook the chicken…' <em>She was about to knock when she stopped herself. _'If Soul is feeling sick from dinner, he's not gonna let me check to see if he's okay. He'll just tell me to go away and then tomorrow he'll feel even worse and insist on not being able to go to school, and then I'll have to stay home and make sure he rests. No way in hell am I letting him do that.' _So instead of knocking, Maka slowly and quietly opened Soul's door. Once it was open enough Maka stuck her head in. "Soul you better be okay in here! I swear to Death if you try to pull the sick card tomorrow morning, I'll give you the worst Maka Chop of your ent-" She stopped dead in her sentence when her brain finally registered what her eyes were seeing. Soul was in there. And he was groaning. But he was definitely **NOT** getting food poisoning. Soul was sitting on his bed, completely, 100% naked, and masterbating. He was staring wide eyed at his miester.

"**WHAT. THE. FUCK. MAKA?**" Soul shouted, staring at his miester, his red eye wide with shock, slight anger, and complete embarrassment.

"I-I-I-"

"**YOU WHAT?**' By this point, Maka's face was as red as Soul's eyes.

"I, um, well… I thought you sounded like you where having a bad reaction to dinner. You had said the chicken was undercooked so I…" She was cut off again by Soul.

"Decided to barge into my room, **WITHOUT KNOCKING?**"

"Well I thought you were getting sick! I didn't think you'd be doing **THIS!**"

"You should still fucking knock before just walking into my room, **AND YOU COULD HAVE MADE SOME EFFORT TO MAKE YOURSELF KNOW SOONER!**"

"**I-I'M SORRY!**" Soul seemed to calm down a little after their yelling match. Until they both remembered something. Throughout the entire moment, Soul hadn't had the chance to cover himself up. And Maka's newly blushing face and down cast eyes were all the reminding he needed.

"**WILL YOU STOP FUCKING STARING AT IT!**"

* * *

><p><strong>End Flashback<strong>

* * *

><p>'<em>After what happened, Soul hadn't made things tense or awkward. He didn't ignore me like I'm doing to him. He didn't even tell Kidd or Black Star about it. But he has less to be self conscious about! It's not a secret that he's really attractive… I mean basically every girl at the DWMA thinks he's hot. He gets like 100 letters daily telling him so. Urgh, maybe I was being too bitchy about it. I mean it <em>**_IS _**_just Soul. He's my weapon, and he doesn't see me as anything but his miester and a friend, so I doubt he actually thought of anything when he looked. Maybe I should just apologize and move on with life… but wait. Why should I have to apologize first? He's the one who walked in on my unannounced, looked at me while I was naked and then _**_LIED_**_ about looking, and then acted like it was _**_MY_**_ fault the whole thing happened. Humph, I'm not apologizing till he does.' _She was suddenly brought back to her thoughts when something came to her attention. She was walking in a forgotten part of Death City. And Soul was nowhere to be seen. Maka had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had accidentally missed the turn that her and Soul usually take to get to school.

"He didn't even stop me? He's such an ass! Argh, wait till I find him. He's going to get the **WORST **Maka- Chop of his entire life!" Maka looked around, hoping to see something familiar, but nothing did. She walked to the nearest street sign, only the names crossed out with spray paint, making it completely impossible to see where she was. Not that she'd have known anyway. "How far did I go before I came back to reality? Did I just walk straight? Or did I make any turns? Oh man, there's no way I'm gonna get to school on time! And I bet Soul doesn't even know I'm gone. And if he does he's probably beyond happy about it…" Maka decided to back track her steps as best she could, but the further she walked, the older, creepier, and more deserted everything became. _'Shit. Where am I?'_

"Noooww, whaat's a ca-uute young ladiee like you doin' around here?" Maka turned to find a man eyeing her up. He looked to be 30-ish and a lot bigger than she was. He reeked of booze and looked like he'd never heard of a shower before. Or a dentist.

"I was just leaving." As she turned to leave, Maka felt a large hand wrap around her wrist, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Ohhhh noo, you weren't. It's not very often a girl like you wanders this deep into this part of town. You think I'm just gonna let you walk on outta here? **HA**. Not gonna happen, sweetheart." Maka tried to get out of the man's grip, but to no avail. His grip only tightened.

"Let. Me. Go- **AH**!" In a second, Maka was forcefully shoved against the brick wall the man had been leaning against. He now had both of her wrists pinned above her head in his hand. She felt him push his crotch against her lower region, while his other hand was on her hip. She realized just how much trouble she was in. The more she struggled, the tighter his grip became and the closer he got to her letting her feel exactly what he was planning to do. _'Of course, the one day Soul chooses to leave me to my thoughts, **THIS** happens.' _She felt his head get closer to her face. Maka shut her eyes tight.

"Ready for some fun, sweetheart?"

* * *

><p><strong>With Soul<strong>

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><p>"<strong>YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT SOUL!<strong>" Liz screamed. Soul cringed at how loud her voice was in his ear. After 2 classes and no Maka, Tsubaki and the rest had made Soul go over the events of the morning. He hadn't mentioned walking in on Maka in the shower, and instead said he had told her that her cooking had sucked more than usual. He said how she had stormed ahead of him and how he got distracted by 2 dogs that started following them and went to pet them. Liz couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Ha, of all the things you would be distracted by…" Black Star and Kidd had to laugh at that point. Soul's face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Anyway, when I got up to go, Maka wasn't there, so I assumed she just went on ahead. And then I got to here and you guys asked where she was and…"

"You realized she hadn't made it here." Kidd finished for him. Patti started laughing hysterically.

"**HAHAHAHAHAHA MAKA'S DAD IS GONNA KIIIILLLL YOU!**"

"Which is why we aren't gonna tell him." Tsubaki gave a small sigh.

"Soul, you know we would be on board with that plan, but Stein was our teacher for both classes. There's no way he missed Maka's absence for both classes."

"Shit." He was officially screwed. _'I take my eyes off you for one goddamn second and you disappear. Not cool, Maka. Not fucking cool.'_ It looked like Kidd was about to say something, but the bell rang signaling it was time for their next class. _'Wherever the hell you wandered off to Maka, you better be okay.'_

* * *

><p><strong>With Maka<strong>

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><p>'<em>Come on legs, move faster!' <em>Maka was running. She didn't know where to, just that it had to be as far away from where she was as possible. She had managed to get out of that creep's grip by kneeing him in the balls, but she hadn't expected three of his friends to come out of nowhere to finish what he had started. One had managed to hit her in the thigh with a metal pole, but Maka kept fighting to get away. After running for a good 20 minutes, Maka had tripped and gained a seriously bloody leg and a sprained ankle. But she got right back up and continued running. She knew that if she wanted to make it through this alive, that couldn't stop to dwell on any pain. She had no idea how many random turns or alleys she used, only that anytime she thought she had lost her pursuers, they always seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What's with these guys?" She couldn't run forever, she knew that. And the longer she kept on going, the faster she was running out of energy. _'That's probably their entire plan. Keep chasing me till I collapse, and then when I'm too tired to fight back, do whatever they want to me and leave me for dead. Great, just great! And Soul won't even know. He'll probably think I just abandoned him and take one of those new slutty miesters up on their offer to be his new partner.' _Tears started to spill from her eyes, some from the pain her ankle was releasing, some from the pain of all the other injuries she acquired, and some from the idea of Soul picking a new miester. _'Dammit! I can't let my mind take over. I need to get the hell out of here!' _Maka made one more turn, but stopped dead in her tracks.

"Shit! Of every turn I pick. Of every fucking turn I pick! A dead end." She went to turn around, only to face her biggest nightmare. All three of the men chasing her.

"Yoouu put up quite the chase my dear. But it's over now. Maybe if you play nicely from here on out, we'll be a little gentler." He took a step forward, so Maka instinctively took a step back. The man next to him spoke next.

"Hey now kitten, it's okay, we just wanna play a game." He licked his lips, eye her up. Maka felt like she was gonna puke.

"Please, just let me go. I just wanna get to school." The third man, probably the most disgusting of them all, took a step closer.

"See, we can't do that. Cause you'll tell on us. And then the authorities and all that shit will come down here and investigate. And we really, really can't have any of that. Besides, why the hell would let a girl as good looking as you just walk outta here?" Maka gulped. She felt the brick wall behind her and knew that no matter how great a fight she put up, she wasn't making it out of this alley. The man who spoke last raised an eyebrow and then a creepy and disturbing smile crawled on to his face.

"Looks like we got ourselves a lost little girl_._ Talk about a lucky day. Now_, _ready for some fun?" The three started closing in and all Maka had the energy to do was shut her eyes as tight as possible. Her legs gave out and she slid down the brick wall she was against. Tears began to fall from her eyes and when she heard their footsteps get closer, she knew it was over.

"At least she knows when to give up. Impressive fight she put up though I have to admit. I like my women feisty." Maka could hear them get even closer and her heart dropped. _'This isn't how things were supposed to go. Ugh, this is all my fault! Why did I have to overreact this morning?' _Her arms wrapped around her body and she clenched Soul's jacket. _'Ha, it's times like these I wish those stupid fairytales about some knight in shining armor saving the day at the last second were true.'_ Not even 10 seconds after thinking that, Maka's horrible situation changed.

"Hey boss, what's that up the-" Whichever man was talking was abruptly cut off. The other two started yelling and Maka heard a gun fire which was followed by the sound of metal hitting the ground and then more shots being fired, and then the sound of flesh being cut open. A gut wrenching scream was heard that sent chills down Maka's spine, and a fine spray of blood splattered on her face, neck, jacket and tank top. Almost immediately after that, she heard someone hitting the brick wall with such force that it produced a horrific sound. Seconds later there was another scream and more flesh being cut open. After nothing else was heard for a good 5 minutes, Maka decided it was safe to open her eyes. When she did, Maka couldn't believe what she saw. A boy a few years older than her was standing in front of her, and his arms were in the form of sword blades, but in an instant, a bright flash happened and they were normal arms again. When he turned to face her, Maka's breathing hitched. He was one of the most gorgeous boys she had ever seen. He had dark brown hair that was long, but didn't go past his eyes. It looked like silk. His eyes where a deep brown, and had a gentle look in them. He was muscular, but not overly so. He sent her a comforting smile.

"You okay?" Maka almost died. His voice was smooth and manly, and her body unwillingly shivered.

"Uh, I think so…" He started to move closer, and in response she tensed. The boy noticed and stopped.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise." His voice was gentle and Maka knew he wasn't lying. He had just saved her life after all. She nodded and he took it as the okay to come closer. He moved very slowly until he was in front of her. He slowly went to his knees so that we that he was at eye level with her. She felt his hand land softly on her shoulder.

"Did those guys do anything to you?" Maka shook her head.

"No, not really. They chased me and one hit my thigh with a pipe, and one who was way back somewhere else slammed me into a wall. But they didn't get to finish anything they wanted to…" The boy motioned for her to put her leg out so he could inspect it.

"Ouch. That looks like it hurts." Her bruise was now a lovely purple and black color, and it had a weird yellow-y color surrounding it. "Hm. Well all in all I'd say that you got off lucky."

"Yeah, thanks to you. But, I also don't get that… I mean, you're a weapon, but from what I heard, you killed those men. And it's against Lord Death's law for weapons to kill humans…" The boy let out a small laugh.

"Very good. I'm a weapon, but I didn't break any law. Those guys, they weren't humans. You may have been too scared to notice, but they were Kishin eggs." He moved to the side a little bit, and Maka's eyes widened. In front of the two floated three red souls.

"How didn't I see that? No wonder I couldn't lose them. They were stalking my soul."

"Well, you had your priorities straight. I'd say running was more important than trying to see if they were human or Kishin." Maka couldn't argue with his logic. He stood up and offered her his hand, which she took.

"Oh, I'm Hunter by the way."

"I'm Maka Albarn." He nodded.

"Well Maka, I'd say it'd be pretty rude of me to save you and then leave you in your battered state to find your way out of this shitty place. What do you say? Want to put up with me a little longer so I can help you out of here?" Maka giggled at his attitude, he was trying to make her feel comfortable with his presence and it was working.

"That would be nice." She said and smiled up at him. He returned the smile with his own, and Maka felt a blush appear on her face. _'He's so attractive!' _As they started to walk, the pain in Maka's ankle really made itself known. She began falling but was caught in a pair of strong arms.

"Heh, careful, wouldn't want you to get hurt any worse."

"Yeah… I guess I hurt my ankle more than I thought."

"It was the adrenaline. You were so hyped up you couldn't even feel it. And because you kept running on it, you made it worse." The two sat again to examine Maka's ankle. It was almost three times its normal size and was badly bruised.

"This walk is going to suck…" She was about to stand when Hunter stopped her.

"Um, you actually think I'm gonna let you _**walk**_ all the way back to the DWMA? You're insane." He stood up and turned his back to her. "Get on." Maka was beside herself.

"Wha-w-what?" Hunter turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Get. On. My. Back. What part of this do you not understand?" Maka blankly stared up at him. She understood exactly what he was saying. _'Why am I making this such a big deal? Soul has carried me tons of times. Why is it suddenly different now that this Hunter guy is offering to? Oh, right. Because he's offering, I'm not asking or begging him too. Jeez Soul, you need to take some notes. You seem kinda lame compared to him…'_

"Earth to Maka. Hellooo? Are you still there? Any day now." Maka snapped from her thoughts and nearly jumped when she realized how close Hunter's face was to hers. _'His eyes are so brown… beautiful.'_

"Um sorry! Okay." He stood back up and shook his head but turned around so she could climb on. The walk was silent, but not awkwardly so. Maka was trying to think of what to tell her friends. She'd missed 3 full classes and it would probably be 4 at the rate Hunter was walking, not that she was complaining. But there was no way that they'd let the slide. Not to mention the fact that he wrists had perfect impressions of the first man's hands from when he grabbed her, her thigh was very noticeable bruised, and she now couldn't walk without almost falling._'I'm basically a useless miester. Soul's gonna kill me.'_ Then there was Hunter. How was she supposed to just nonchalantly mention him? Because he's definitely not a nonchalant guy. As Maka was working on a story to tell her friends, Hunter was lost in his own thoughts. _'They're gonna shoot me. It's bad enough I disappeared for 6 hours, but to make a scene like that too? Fuck. I'm already on thin ice from yesterday.. Dammit, I thought she was unconscious. If I had known she was totally awake that whole time I would have gone about that completely different. And Lord Death even said to steer clear of the current students here. Well, I've never been good with staying out of a fight, or making life choices.' _Maka pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hey, Hunter?"

"Yeaaah?"

"Do you have a miester? You seem to be a really talented weapon, but you were alone when you saved me and I noticed no one else was around then. And there's no other miesters around now besides me." Hunter let out a soft laugh.

"You're pretty perceptive, aren't you? But yes, I do have a miester. We just don't see the need to be around each other 24/7 like most partners. Both of us are capable of fighting efficiently, so we don't _**need **_each other all the time. But traveling alone is pretty boring, so we agreed to watch each other's back when need be. It's unconventional, but it works." That was something Maka had never heard of. The only weapon she'd ever met that was 100% efficient without a miester was Justin, but he was a Death Scythe. And then a self efficient miester? Now that was something that Maka hardly heard of. Miesters didn't have too many great skills. There were some that could last awhile without their weapons like Black Star and Kidd, but even they heavily relied on Tsubaki and Patti and Liz.

"How efficient?" Maka wanted to know if Hunter and his miester actually even _needed_ each other at all.

"Very efficient." Hunter could tell that the girl on his back wanted an elaboration. He stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about if he should really give that information to her or not. 'Oh what the hell. It's not like she can use it against me or anything. "Alright, if you're asking if we need each other to fight, we don't. I can hold my own in a fight and my miester can hold their own. We actually usually fight separate."

"That's…wow."

"Ha, it's really not that impressive. Now I hate to say it, but I can't take you any further. I don't need any kind of attention. Sorry…" He left Maka get off and started to leave, but she stopped him.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned his head.

"Look, Maka, I wish I could take you all the way back to the DWMA, but that'd be one big headache that I don't wanna deal with."

"No, I understand that. I'm not trying to make you come back… I just want to thank you for saving my life." He was taken aback, but recovered quickly. He shook his head and turned to face her. He gave her a smile that made Maka's heart skip 10 beats.

"No. You definitely don't need to thank me. You needed help, and I wasn't about to just leave you there to be raped and left for dead. And besides, you seemed worth saving. Glad I was right." He winked at her and turned again. "Bye, Maka Albarn. I'll see you around." Maka could only wave. She didn't know what to say. She watched Hunter walk away until she finally spoke, but not above a whisper. Maka knew he wouldn't hear her.

"Goodbye Hunter…I hope you're right."

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><p>Phew! Chappy one is done! I'm almost done with chapter 2, soo please do check back!<p>

Ooooo la lalaaa, who is this mysterious sexy man Hunter? And who are these random people at the begining of the story? Who knows! HA, all will be revealed soon enough(: I'm a loser, I know.

**(7/29)EDIT: I fixed some tense errors in the beginning of the story, spelling errors that were everywhere, and a really weird sentence combination that happened when Maka was flashbacking. Also, some information Hunter tells Maka was taken out, and one of his thoughts w****as changed around so that it gave less away. **

**That is all for now. **


	2. A New Threat

Chapter 2 is finally done! Now I'm sorry if anything seems awkward and just stuck in there, I wrote this story on three different devices and it got a little confusing for myself haha. Also, I'm pretty sure I said this last chapter but I didn't keep the past story line from the anime 100% true... but it all comes together, I promise!

Now this chapter is more so a complete setup chapter for the upcoming ones...so it's kind of dry. But it's neccesary.

Okay, so I don't own Soul Eater, just my own characters and the plot I've created. Blahblahblahblahblah **ON TO THE STORY!**

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 2**

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><p>It took a while, but Maka managed to make her way back to the DWMA. It was pretty quiet and no one seemed to be around, so Maka assumed a class had just started. When she had finally managed to find a clock, she noted it was 5th period class. <em>'Maybe I can just sneak in and pretend like I was there the whole time? No, that won't work. I bet no one ignored the fact that I missed almost half the day already... Shit.'<em> Maka started to limp towards her locker when a hand stopped her.

"So nice of you to join us Maka." She knew that voice all too well.

"Oh hi Professor Stein! How are you today?" She turned her head slightly to address him, but didn't turn around. She didn't need him questioning her bruises. But he was a step ahead of her.

"Care to explain why you're limping? And while you're at it what those marks on your wrists are from. And please explain that disgusting bruise on your thigh, and why there's blood all over you? A reason for why you're 3 hours late for school would be spectacular too." There really was nothing you could get past Stein. But then again she hadn't really gone out of her way to fix herself up. She had been dead set on getting to school as soon as possible.

"Umm..." Maka cursed silently. She hadn't even made an excuse for why she was so late. Stein didn't give her any extra time to think either.

"Come with me. We're going to see Lord Death." He started walking and continued past her, but at a slow pace so she could keep up easier. Stein would've gone ahead but he had some things he needed to discuss with Maka. "So where exactly did you disappear too this morning? Lord Death couldn't locate you at all. And I've never seen your friends more distraught and uneasy. Soul looked like he was about to jump out of his skin at any given second. Even Black Star seemed troubled by your absence." Maka hadn't been ready to hear that. She knew they'd be slightly worried, but she didn't think they'd actually show it.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was weak. She hadn't realized how dry her throat was until that moment. Stein could feel the guilt building up in her soul.

"I don't see why you're apologizing to me.. It's your friends and your idiot father that you had worried to the point of snapping at the smallest thing, not me. Lord Death tried to calm them all down but to no avail. He thought it'd be best to keep them nearby, so they're actually waiting in his Mirror Room with him."

"Do you think he knows I'm back?"

"I'd assume so. But I doubt he's told the others. If he had they'd most likely be here already with hugs and a million questions." That was true. The rest of the walk to Lord Death's Mirror Room was quiet. It kind of unsettled Maka, not that she'd say that to Stein.

When they finally reached the door to Death's room, Maka felt like running the opposite way. It would have been hard enough explaining things to Lord Death, Stein, and most likely her father, but she was gonna have to explain it to them **AND** her friends_. 'I can't do this. Maybe I could tell Tsubaki and Liz and Patti, maybe even Kidd. But not Black Star, and __**DEFINITLY NOT**__ Soul. There's no way they'll ever let it go. Shit, I can't do this!' _Maka hadn't been aware that she started hyperventilating, or that she had grabbed Stein's lab coat.

"Something wrong, Maka?" His eyebrow was quirked and he looked down at her. She was shaking and tears were gathering in her eyes. She started shaking her head.

"I can't do this Stein. There's no way I can face everyone and tell them what happened!" The tears started to leak down her cheeks. "I can't tell them how weak I was. I can't..." Stein shook his head.

"You don't have much of a choice, Maka. And I bet they'll just be happy that you're alive. Now come on, Lord Death is waiting." Stein was never good with consoling people, and distraught students were no exception. Maka wipped her eyes and nodded.

"Okay." With a final intake of breath Maka opened the door. She heard a lot of yelling and recognized one of the voices immediately. _'Soul.'_ Stein put his hand on her shoulder and nudged her along. She could hear the yelling getting softer and softer, and she found out why. Soul had been yelling at Black Star (although she had no idea what about) and Kidd, Chrona, and the girls had been trying to calm them down until Lord Death mumbled something about having company. Liz had looked first and gasped, causing Patti and Kidd to look. Their responses were almost exactly the same and caused Tsubaki to look. She couldn't do much but look at her battered friend. Chrona was mumbling and looked horrified. Their friends' sudden silence caused Black Star and Soul to look over and they immediately stopped their yelling. Maka started to feel really uncomfortable when everyone just stared and didn't say anything.

"Um… hey guys. What's up?" No one could find the words to say. They just stared. Soul had never felt worse in his entire life. It was his fault that his miester was in this condition and after worrying all morning about her, he couldn't say anything. Tsubaki finally found the words that everyone was too afraid to ask.

"Maka… What. What happened to you? You look…"

"Awful? Heh, I know… and I guess you guys wouldn't believe the whole _'I fell down some stairs'_ excuse, would you?" They all shook their heads dumbly. Lord Death moved forward and all eyes went to him.

"Maka, now I know you had an extremely rough morning, but I do need you to tell me exactly where you went and what happened. I'm not sure why, but whenever I tried to locate you through my mirrors, you were undetectable. I need to know where you were so I can see what might have happened." Maka scratched the back of her head, which unintentionally allowed everyone to see just how dark and bad the bruises on her wrists were.

"Well you see, I don't exactly know where I was. I was thinking about a bunch of stuff and when I finally realized that I was nowhere near where I was supposed to be, all the street signs were spray painted over. I tried to find my way out but it didn't go over too well. I just got more lost. All the buildings started getting older and creepier, and then out of nowhere, well, this guy started, um, hitting on me. He reeked of alcohol and looked like he'd never heard of a shower, and when I tried to leave, he grabbed me…" She paused when something in the room changed. _'Why am I telling them this? I should just make something up and get this over with faster. And what's with all the damn pity looks? I don't need them treating me like I'm some baby!'_

"I see. Did this man do anything to you?" Maka slowly nodded.

"Kind of… He slammed me against a wall, and I knew what he _**wanted**_ to do, but he never got the chance. Something caught his eye and in that moment I kicked him and took off. He didn't seem to want to give chase, and when I knew he was gone I started to slow down. That's when I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. I was about to check on it when I heard a laugh. When I turned to see what was happening there were three guys just standing there watching me. Before I even knew what was happening one ran at me. I didn't even notice the pipe in his hand until it was slammed against my thigh… After that none of them moved, and the one who was against a wall started counting down from 10. It took me till 7 to realize that they were giving me a head start. I don't know how fast I ran or how far I got, but it didn't seem to matter. They caught up to me the second they hit zero. No matter how far ahead I got, they caught up immediately." Lord Death interrupted

"Were you ever able to shake them?" Maka shook her head

"No. Anytime I tried to have them pass me they would notice before I could get any kind of ground away from them."

"Most peculiar… Anyway, please continue."

"After running for 20 minutes or so, I ended up making the wrong turn. I hit a dead end and before I had the chance to find a new way, they were standing in the entrance of the alley. That's when I accepted the fact that I was most likely not gonna make it out of that alley." Stein was the one to interrupt this time.

"If they had you cornered, how did you make it out of there?"

"Well if you let me finish I could tell you." Stein glared at her and she continued. "As I was saying, I didn't think I was going to make it out of there, but apparently it was my lucky day. The three of them started to argue about who got to go first. Apparently they all thought they'd get first dibs. They started to get in a yelling match, and within seconds they were throwing punches at each other. One pulled out a knife and slashed the others, which is why I got blood on me, and then the "leader" pulled out a gun, but so did the one who had hit me with the pipe. One of them shot the man with the knife and then fired at each other. I couldn't believe it…" She hadn't realized she started shaking until she felt Soul's hand on her shoulder. _'I guess that makes it that much more believable.' _She received some comforting words from Tsubaki and everyone else and after discussing some more things with Lord Death and Stein, the group was dismissed for the day.

After they left, Stein turned to Lord Death.

"You aren't buying that, are you?" Death shook his masked face, confirming Stein's assumption.

"I do believe Maka had a run in with those three, and that everything leading up to that alley was the truth, but that ending, no matter how nicely it fit, didn't add up. Those three seemed to have everything planned out. They wouldn't have let the whole thing fall apart over who got the first hit. And it's what Maka deliberately left out that has me suspicious." Stein was lost after Death said that.

"Deliberately left out?"

"Those three men were Kishin eggs. Even if Maka's ending was true, she would have seen that. And then there's that fact that there were traces of another soul being near her, and this soul wasn't Kishin. This means there was someone else in that alley with them."_ 'And I have a rather good idea of who.'_

"The three who have been causing havoc around Death City these past few weeks? Why would she keep all of that to herself?"

"I'm not sure, Stein. But she must have some reason for it. Although she doesn't really seem to want to tell us right now. Oh well, Maka doesn't do much without a good reason, so I don't see any point on dwelling on the matter any longer. Now, I believe you have some classes to go teach Stein?" Taking the hint, Stein left the Mirror Room without another word, leaving Lord Death to his thoughts.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

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><p>"Ugh, why did your dad call everyone here? A God like me should be training, not standing around with a bunch of peasants!" Kidd and company all rolled their eyes at Black Star.<p>

"Will you shut up? If everyone from the academy is here, it's obviously something important..." Kidd looked around at everyone who was currently gathered in the Grand Room of the academy. _'Hm, every single student and teacher from the DWMA is actually gathered. Father, what is going on?'_ Kidd's eyes found their way to Spirit and Stein, whom looked as confused as all the other faculty members and students. _'If those two don't know what's going on, then no one does.'_

"Hey, Kidd," Kidd looked over to his weapon and friend, Liz, "if this is so important, why isn't your father here? I mean, he went throught the trouble of getting everybody in the same place to make some announcement, and he's not even here to explain what's up. Kinda weird if ya ask me."

"I'm not sure, Liz. He's probably taking care of a few things. He should be here soon enough." Liz gave Kidd a sympathetic smile_. 'Geez, it must suck being kept outta the loop by your own dad. But Kidd is keeping himself pretty calm, which is good. I just hope he doesn't start realizing that this room is asymmetrical with all the people being randomly about... That could make things super awful.'_ Liz looked over at her sister Patti, who was currently laughing like a manic at a panicky Chrona who kept mumbling to himself about not being able to handle this situation. The situation being a shouting Black Star.

"Black Star, please stop shouting. You're disrupting everyone around us..." Tsubaki tried to quiet down her hyperactive miester, but to no avail.

"**THE MIGHTY** **BLACK STAR SHOULDN'T BE KEPT WAITING! THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT A GOD LIKE ME!**" Spirit and Stein started making their way over to the familiar group by the point. Spirit took in the fact that his beloved daughter seemed unaware of what was happening around her. She looked to be thinking of something entirely different, and it appeared to be troubling her. It was no secret of her awful morning run in with that pervert and his friends, as Stein had made Maka tell him why she was late and why she had the bruises she did, but from what he heard, his little girl had put up a mighty good fight, got very lucky, and escaped_. 'I swear if that creep touched my little Maka, I'll track him down and beat him to hell and back.'_ Spirit kept his eyes locked on his daughter as he and Stein neared the kids.

Soul took note of this and did his good deed for the day. "Hey Maka, heads up. Your old man is coming this way." Maka looked towards her partner, as he had broken her from her thoughts. "Great." _'If he wants to talk about what happened he can forget it.' _Maka had told Stein and her friends about what happened, much to her reluctance, but her father had been absent from the room during it all. She knew that Professor Stein had more than likely told her father everything, but she really didn't want to have the conversation with him. Especially not here. Spirit was about to get Maka's attention when something stopped him_. 'Hmm, it seems like all her friends are giving her space. Even her partner is leaving her to herself... Maybe I should too.'_ And so he did. Spirit Albarn may have been an awful husband and a suffocating father, but even he knew when something was better left unsaid. Well, sometimes.

"So do you guys have any idea on what's going on?" Soul wanted to see if maybe Stein or Spirit knew anything at all on the situation. _  
><em>

"We actually have no idea. Lord Death just told us to meet with everyone else in the Grand Room. We don't have any kind of clue as to what he wants to tell everyone." Chrona was looking around nervously as usual until he saw something. Something that made him scream and jump behind the closest person, which happened to be Liz. Liz jumped at the sudden contact.

"What the hell? Chrona! Let go!" Chrona just held tighter to Liz's arm, cowering closer behind her. Kidd gave him a strang look while Patti laughed.

"Um, Chrona... Is something the matter?" Tsubaki put her hand on Chrona's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"It-it-I-I-it's her..." Chrona tried to duck further behind Liz, but she had had it with his odd behavior. Liz grabbed Chrona's hand and held it in place as she turned around. Her and everyone else, including Maka who had finally come out of her thoughts, stared at Chrona with a mix of confusion, worry, and irritation. Maka was the one who spoke this time.

"Her who, Chrona?" Before Chrona could answer, Lord Death finally decided to get things moving along.

"Hey hey heeeyyy everyone! What's going on?" Everyone in the room sweat dropped. _'He called us all here... Why's he asking us what's going on?'_ After a few minutes of silence, Lord Death started talking again, only there was an unusually serious tone that the students had never heard before. "Now I know none of you students here are children. Although you're all young, you've lived through a lot, and you've all faced things no child should ever face. So that's why I'm not going to sugarcoat this. As you're all most likely aware, two of our students, Noah and Kelo, have not been seen recently. The mission they were last given was supposed to be a simple one, just gathering intel and coming home, but when a week went by without any contact being made, I sent Stein and Spirit to investigate. What they found was not good.

A faint cry was heard from one of the female students. Soul cringed.

"That's right, Noah had a girlfriend..." _'That has to suck.' _Some sympathetic words were given to the girl and to anyone who was close with the two missing students, while some quiet conversations were shared between others in the room. All became silent again when Lord Death started to speak again.

"When the campsite was investigated, there were obvious signs of a very vicious struggle. There was no sign of Noah or Kelo which leads us to the assumption that they were not the victors of whatever happened. There was a disturbing amount of blood, although it's impossible to say how much belonged to whom. At first we thought Aracnephobia was somehow linked to this attack, but upon further investigation, it was clear that, although she may be working with whoever did this, she and her followers did not directly attack them. This means the DWMA has acquired a new enemy, only this one is much more dangerous." He paused, allowing his students and faculty members to register everything they were being told. Soon all of the students and teachers were mumbling amongst themselves. Some in complete disbelief, others in total fear. The volume in the room gradually started to rise, until Sid asked the question that everyone was to afraid to ask.

"What was this discovery that lead you to believe someone else was involved?" Within seconds the room was silent again, all eyes on Lord Death.

"A blood message." Something in the room changed after Lord Death said that. Everyone knew a blood message was something that no one wanted to find. It was exactly what the name said, a message written in blood. Usually the blood belonged to the writer's victim, and it was normally used after a gang killing, to let everyone who saw know what up. "Whoever did this left us with a very troubling warning: _**'These may have been the first, but they will not be the last. Give us the soul we seek, and you'll all be left in peace. Deny us our need, and ****death**** will be your only friend.' **_Whoever did this means business. This is why all missions have been postponed these past few weeks. We are not sure whose soul they are after, and we did not want to put any of you at an unnecessary risk. That is also why we've also called in for some extra help."

Stein and Spirit exchanged glances. Kidd, not missing a beat, ask gathered more information.

"Were you two not aware of this?"

Spirit shook his head, "No, your father never told us about getting help. I actually can't think of who he'd even ask. The only other death scythes that are willing to help us are already here. We don't have many other useful alliances that can help, and no one owes us any favors." Maka and the others were listening by this time.

"Actually Spirit, there is someone who owes us." Stein stated, turning the screw in his head. When all he got in response were blank stares, he continued, "a certain witch that we allowed to go free." Eyes widened with realization.

"He wouldn't ask her for help... I mean why would he? My father is no idiot. He wouldn't ask someone who tried to kill us for help!"

"Except it appears he has. And actually it is a rather logical move. Her sister may or may not be helping this new threat, but either way, she'll be after us for ruining her plans. Medusa despises her sister and would be able to efficiently counter her." Maka clenched her fists.

"Even if that's true, there's no way we should trust her! After what she did to Chrona for all those years and then to Soul... How could Lord Death ask her for help!" Tsubaki and Liz put a hand on either one of Maka's shoulders. Chrona stared with wide eyes, cowering behind Patti who was being abnormally quiet. Soul had his gaze fixed on his miester. Kidd was nodding his head in agreement with Maka's outburst. Black Star turned to face Lord Death, who was just watching the mixed reactions of all the people in the room.

"**WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?**" Everyone looked at Black Star, most with annoyance for his rudeness. Lord Death looked at him, and then to to whom he was standing with. _'Oohhh boy, Stein may have known too much. Looks like the cat is outta the bag..._'

"Soo, ya pieced it all together, did ya? I wasn't too psyched about it either, but it was one of the only choices I had left. I am very sorry." The rest of the room looked at Lord Death in utter confusion. He was apologizing. To all of them. For whom he asked for help from. And only 11 people in that room knew why. One of the new weapons spoke up.

"What are you sorry about? So you had to ask for help, big deal! It's obviously a bad enough situation to need it." Many in the room nodded in agreement. A few voiced their opinions too. Stein sighed.

"They don't get it. Even the students who were here for everything that happened, they weren't told of who was involved."

"So my father left everyone but us in the dark. It's just one more secret within the DWMA." Spirit nodded.

"If your dad had it his way, you kids wouldn't even know about it. He wanted as few of people as possible to be in the loop." Their conversation was cut short when Lord Death started speaking again.

"I guess now is as good of a time as any to tell everyone what's happening. Listen up, cause I'm not repeating this. And no, this isn't the full story, but you'll all have to take it for what it's worth for now. As you are all aware, a few months ago a lot of things started happening that involved the DWMA. Almost none of you were ever told of the details of what occurred. We tried to keep the events that transpired completely under wraps, but in order to fully protect you; some past events will need to be revisited. We all know about our annual celebratory bash we have here every year, but after awhile, the true reason for that celebration stopped being told. In the bottom of this school, a very very dark secret was being kept. This secret was a Kishin." He paused, allowing this news to sink in. When no one seemed to be ready to comment on this new found truth, he continued, "Erm, well, that day that we were all trapped in this room, Medusa the Witch was busy awakening that Kishin. But she didn't have an easy time in doing so. 7 of your fellow classmates and two very trusted faculty members went above what anyone could have asked from them, and put their own lives at risk to stop her. But unfortunately, it was to no avail. Medusa managed to complete her goal, which wasn't very shocking. We later discovered she had been planning this for quite some time, even going as far as infiltrating the school as a nurse. After some very uneasy weeks though, a series of events allowed us to capture her. In a very long interrogation, she eventually told us some very unsettling information. It seems she had been working with her sister, Aracnephobia, in secret. Except Aracnephobia double crossed her and took the Kishin, whom was still wrapping his head around where he was, with her and her henchmen. Then there was everything that happened with Brew. Because of these facts, it made it clear that although Medusa had been a past threat, that she was not a current one, and because if this, could be released. That move put her and her followers in our debt. And, as much as I know you will all object to this, she is one source who I've called to help us." To say the room became a mad house was an understatement. All at once, everything everyone had been too afraid to say came bursting out.

"**THIS IS WHAT THE MIGHTY LORD DEATH RESORTS TOO? PATHETIC!**"

"**THIS IS RIDICULOUS!**"

"**ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?**"

"**AFTER EVERYTHING SHE'S DONE TO THIS PLACE, SHE'S YOU'RE LAST RESORT?**"

"What does he think he's doing? Just announcing it so nonchalantly... Of course everyone will freak out about it." Maka couldn't figure out what Lord Death was thinking. _  
><em>

"Yeah, but what other choice did the guy have? This isn't something he could try and sneak around everyone." Soul had a point, Maka couldn't deny that. Kidd and Tsubaki nodded in agreement. The commotion only seemed to get louder, but apparently Lord Death had more to say.

"**THAT'S ENOUGH.**" No one, not even Spirit, had heard Lord Death speak like that. His voice wasn't just serious, it was menacing. Shivers went down everyone's spines and all yelling, arguments, and conversations stopped immediately.

"Now, if I may continue without interruption. As I was saying, Medusa is **ONE** source I've turned to for help. But she's not the only one. I've managed to track down six others. They are all extremely skilled and definite forces to be reckoned with. And no, they aren't witches. They aren't past bad guys. These six people are past students from the DWMA. They were the top of their classes, and amongst the best weapons and miesters that have ever passed through here. If you any of you have the chance of speaking with them and learning something from them, I do encourage you do so. They've been through more than any of you could ever dream of experiencing. Now, none of these people have arrived yet. But I want each and every one of you to be here when they arrived. I want all of you to return here at 8 o'clock tomorrow night. By that time everyone who is expected to be here will, and you'll all know who to be looking for." No one knew what to make of the situation anymore. Six new recruits? Six past students of the DWMA coming back to help them? Maka turned to Kidd.

"Any idea who these old students might be?" Kidd shook his head.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I can't think of any past students that my father ever seemed extremely impressed with."

"Maybe they're older?" He turned to Liz.

"Maybe... This whole situation is one giant confusing mess." Lord Death soon dismissed everyone, making sure to stress that they were all still expected to show up for their classes, much to everyone's dismay. Soul and company made their way to the basketball court. Everyone was silent for the most part thinking everything over, except for Black Star.

"Why would your dad need to call in all these people for help? He's got a God like me here!** HAHAHAHA**, I can take anything this new enemy throws at us!" Soul cracked his famous smirk at his best friend.

"Wait, I just see the World's Loudest Idiot. But if you see this God you're ranting about, tell him we could use a hand."

"**HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERIOR THAT WAY!** Take those words back and I might forgive you."

"Ha. Bring it." The two of them picked up the pace to settle it over a game of one-on-one. Patti went with them, eagerly agreeing to be the referee. Tsubaki and the others couldn't really help but smile, apart from Chrona, who was fiddling with his fingers and taking in his surroundings.

"I'm glad that they can still be so light hearted at a time like this. Black Star's wavelength is helping me stay calm." Liz nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm glad Patti is always so carefree and nuts. It really does make things easier to deal with, and I know I'd probably be a strung up mess if it wasn't for her." The five of them watched Soul and Black Star as they battled it out. Patti was calling things that even Maka was sure weren't actual violations, but there's really no way to argue with Patti. After a few minutes, Maka broke the silence.

"What do you think these people will be like? Lord Death makes them sound like they've been through a lot. Do you guys think they'll be stoic and wise, or what?"

"Hmm, after seeing how all the Death Scythes are, I'm really not sure what to expect. Marie is almost like a mom, but then there's Justin who's sometimes like us, and sometimes all about work. And then there's your father, who's all over the place." Liz thought about what Maka asked and what Kidd had already said.

"I just hope they aren't snobs or bitchy or think that just because they've been at this longer that they're better than any of us. We have more than enough of those here already." She scowled as she said it. And it was very true statement. Although the miesters and weapons of the academy were very skilled and a mixture of all the different kinds of people, there were always those people who thought the world revolved around them and thought they should have everything and everyone they wanted. This is why there was always an issue between Maka and one of the younger girls, and Liz and one of the older girls. There would more than likely be girls hating Tsubaki, but because of Back Star's personality they just admire him and his body from afar. And although she wouldn't admit it, Tsubaki was glad no one else who may have eyes for her miester tried to get him. Kidd and Chrona looked at the three girls who were now very deep in thought.

"I'm not sure how to handle this, Kidd... What should we do?" Chrona, who was now seated on the bench, seemed extremely uncomfortable. Kidd just sighed.

"I say leave them to their thoughts. Judging by how pissed Black Star looks, his and Souls game will be a while longer." Chrona nodded and Kidd took a seat next to him on the bench. "Now, I know it's over and done with, but why did you get all jumpy in the Grand Room? You said it was "her", but you never got the chance to elaborate. Care to explain?"

"Um, w-w-well you see... I uh, urm... I felt M-M-Medusa's presence... I thought she was there, but then once Lord Death started speaking, it, well, disappeared..." Kidd nodded. _'So she is here.' _After an hour, Black Star and Soul finally finished their game, coming to the reluctant decision to call it a draw. Kidd stood.

"Hm, I'd say it's been quite a day. I'm ready to head home. Liz, Patti, ready to go?" The two weapons in question nodded their heads.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow!" Liz said as the three left. Chrona was the next to departe, manly because Ragnurak started getting antsy. Black Star, Tsubaki, Maka and Soul talked for a bit longer until it started to get darker.

"**WELL, THE GREAT BLACK STAR WILL STARVE IF HE DOESN'T GET SOME FOOD SOON!** Tsubaki! Let us depart!" Tsubaki rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Haha, alright Black Star... We'll see you two tomorrow, alright? Get some rest Maka." Maka nodded and waved goodbye to them.

"Alright, looks like we should head home too. C'mon Maka." Soul started off toward their apartment, and Maka somewhat clumsily caught up. Soul's pace was a little fast, but when he noticed his miester's difficulty in keeping up, he slowed down. "Sorry, I almost forgot about your ankle."

"It's okay. It's a lot better than yesterday, so I think it was just sprained. It's no big deal." For some reason, Maka's words were like a slap in the face to Soul. Mainly because it was a big deal. And it was his fault.

"You know that's not true. It **IS** a big dea-"

"No. It's not Soul. I overreacted and acted like a brat. It's my fault all of that happened! Don't blame yourself." _'Easier said than done...'_ Soul and Maka both knew that no matter what she said that Soul would blame himself.

"If I would have just apologized or something, you wouldn't have gotten all pissy and nothing bad would have happened to you! So yea, it **IS** my fault."

"Cool guys don't apologize Soul. Remember? You always say that." Just like Maka to throw his cool guy rules in his face.

"They do when their partner could have **DIED** because of them. Jeez Maka, don't you listen to anything I say?" Maka rolled her eyes at him. _'That wasn't in your rules...'_ The rest of the walk was pretty quiet, and Maka couldn't have been happier to reach their home. Her ankle was really starting to bug her and she wanted to ice it as soon as possible. She went to take the stair, but when she put her foot down, her entire leg gave out and she went toppling over. She expected to meet the stairs face first but Soul reacted just in time.

"Fuuck! Oww owe owwwwweee!" A sharp pain came from where the pipe had hit her, and much to her dismay, tears started forming in her eyes.

"Shit, Maka, are you okay?"

"No you idiot! I feel like someone just cut my leg off!" She tried to blink her tears away but it wasn't working. The pain wouldn't go away. They started to spill out of her eyes and within seconds she was sobbing. Soul, hating that he sounded like Chrona, had no idea how to handle this.

"Fuck. Please don't cry Maka, it's okay. Don't worry, I'm here." He tried to be as soothing as possible, but being a comforting guy was **NOT** Soul's forte. He awkwardly put his hand on Maka's shoulder in an act to calm her, but it didn't work. It did, however, cause Maka to bring her hands up from her leg and to Soul's shirt and start sobbing even harder against his chest. Soul's cheeks instantly started burning red as his miester somehow managed toget her body even closer to his_. 'Uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... What the hell do I do?'_ Soul could hear the little ogre inside him laughing at his flustered state_. 'Bastard. Shut up.'_ Out of nowhere he heard Maka start sobbing out words.

"I'm s-s-sorry tha-that I'm such a _-sob-_ useless p-pa-partner _-sobsobsob_-." Soul sighed and moved his hand from its awkward position on her should to her back. His other hand was placed on the nape of her neck and Soul then pulled his miester against him completely. He heard her take a sharp intake of breathe between sobs and then start crying harder.

"Maka, you aren't a useless partner. So you don't have inhuman abilities like Kidd and Black Star. It's not that big a deal. You've become an amazing scythe miester, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner if I had tried. You've saved both our asses plenty of times and you defeated Asura with a fucking punch. I'd say you're pretty useful. Stop beating yourself up, okay?" Maka's crying had become softer, and she seemed to have calmed down.

"Sorry I make you put up with so much, Soul." This time Soul rolled his eyes at her.

"Psh, yea right. You love putting me through hell." She was about to object, but Soul kept talking, "And it's fine. Sure, sometimes you seem to just attract every problem in the world, but I'm your weapon, and it's a part of my job to protect you. Not that I need to be ordered to." Maka looked up at him and smiled. "And I really am sorry I wasn't there to protect you yesterday, Maka. Seeing you walk through those doors all bloody and beat up was the hardest thing I've had to watch, because I knew if I had just stopped you or apologized or admitted that I had been wrong, you'd have been 100% fine." Maka wiggled out of Soul's arms and kneeled in from of him, grabbing his face with both hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"Soul, listen to me. I know you feel like this is your fault, and okay, so maybe it partially is. But that doesn't mean you get to beat yourself up over it! We've had plenty of fights, and a lot of things have happened that could have probably been avoided. But we've worked through it. So you didn't apologize or admit you were wrong yesterday morning? You're doing it now, and that's enough, it really is. You couldn't have known that that was gonna be the outcome of our fight, and even if you had tried looking for me, we both know that that wouldn't have worked! Lord Death couldn't even find me till I was out of there. Please, stop blaming yourself!" Soul just stared into his miester's eyes. She probably didn't even know how lucky he felt to have a miester like her. He gave her his signature smirk, which seemed to instantly let her know he got the message.

"Fine, Ms Heartfelt Speech. You win." She hugged him and then they got up and headed up the stairs to their floor. The second they got there, Maka started dinner, while Soul headed for the shower. After they had eaten, Soul went to watch TV while Maka showered. She took longer than usual, which Soul had expected. Once she finished getting ready for bed, Maka joined Soul on the couch and they ended up watching some random action movie that Soul had randomly flipped to. It was just starting so Soul went and made popcorn. When he got back, he put it on the coffee table and him and Maka arranged themselves in their movie watching position, which meant Maka was laying on the front edge of the couch while Soul was lying against the back, his head resting on the pillow with Maka's head resting on his chest. The movie was the generic action film, complete with tons of gun fights, swearing, hot girls, ripped guys, and predictable plot line. When it finally finished, it was almost 1 am. Maka let out a small yawn, signaling that it was time for bed.

"You can stay up if you want, but I'm beat." As she got up, Soul did too.

"Naw, I'm gonna get some sleep too. A lot is gonna be happening tomorrow, and I don't wanna be tired and miss anything." Maka nodded and they both headed down the hall to their respective rooms. Maka stopped in front of her door.

"I'll see you in the morning Soul, goodnight." She was about to open her door when Soul's hand stopped her. She turned to face him and he proceeded to pull her into his arms.

"You gonna be okay tonight?" His voice was seeping with worry.

"Yeah, I should be okay... You don't need to worry about me, Soul." His embrace only tightened.

"Yes I do. And just remember, I'm right down the hall. I don't care what time it is, if you need something, come get me. Even if it's just to hear that everything's okay, got it? I won't let anything happen Maka, I promise." Her hands found their way to his shirt collar and her grip tightened.

"Thank you." She hugged her weapon goodnight and retreated into her room. Soul stared at her door for a few minutes before continuing on to his_. 'I really hope tomorrow is cooler than today.'_

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><p>Whoomp whomp whhooomppp! Okay, there we have it, the first of many setup chapters! (that may be a lie, I'm not sure how many setups I'm gonna have..) The next chapter should be more exciting though! But it may be a few days before it gets on here because I haven't even started writing yet... <strong>BUT I'M STARTING RIGHT NOW! <strong>Until next time!(:

**R&R**

**(7/29)Edit: Just changed grammar and spelling. And some thoughts were taken away.**


	3. The Help

Hi! So it couldn't have taken me annyyy longer to update this... well actually it could have haha. But with the lack of reviews, I didn't think anyone liked it enough to keep checking back on it. **HINT HINT HINT.** I want more reviews or this story is gonna have to wait a nice long while to be updated past chapter 4. And okay, you're going to notice that I spell Ragnorok differently every single time I type it. You'll have to deal with it(;

**OKAYYYY! **That's all for now! I don't own Soul Eater, yada yada yada. enjoyy(:

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<br>Chapter 3.**

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><p>The next day seemed to drag on for every single person at the DWMA, including the teachers, and even Lord Death. Everyone was eagerly awaiting that evening and the arrival of the six old students, and even the arrival of Medusa and her few followers. Although not many agreed with Lord Death's decision to get the witch's help, they soon realized that it was one of the smartest things that he could do. Because all of these people were unknown to the majority of the student body, everyone started to make up their own ideas of what they'd all be like and, after only one class, the rumors were ridiculous. Once the final class of the day let out, everyone headed to their respective homes to get ready for the night. Lord Death had wanted everyone to make a good impression, so he asked that they all dress nicely. And that's how Soul found himself getting an earful from Maka.<p>

"Soul, I know you have nice dress shirts! Just put one on! We're gonna be late at this rate!" Soul had tried to get away with wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but Maka wasn't having it.

"Christ woman, calm down! Lord Death just said we had to look nice. That doesn't mean I need to wear a fucking suit. This is fine. It's a clean T-shirt and clean jeans!"

"I'm not asking you to wear a stupid suit! I'm asking you to wear a nice dress shirt! Why are you so against it?!"

"Okay, you asked me to wear a dress shirt, and I said no. I think I should be allowed to wear whatever the hell I want to!"

"**SOUL. JUST GO PUT A GODDAMN DRESS SHIRT ON!**" With a grumble, Soul went to go change his shirt. Again. After 5 minutes of waiting, he returned with a dark maroon button up shirt, dark wash jeans, nice black shoes, and a leather jacket on. Maka smiled approvingly at him. "Seeee, was that so hard?" He stocked passed her and headed out the door with the keys to his motorcycle in his hand. Maka rolled her eye. "You're so immature..."

"**I HEARD THAT.** Now hurry the fuck up! You were the one complaining about being late!" She giggled and did what her weapon so rudely asked.

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><p><strong>At The DWMA<strong>

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><p>When Maka and Soul arrived, it was already packed. Soul dropped Maka off at the steps where Chrona and the others were waiting while he went and parked the motorcycle.<p>

"Are we waiting for Soul or what?" Maka shook her head at Liz.

"No, he said he'd meet us inside." The seven of them continued on into the Grand Room. When they entered, it looked completely different. There were a ton of decorations all over the place, and food and drink stations set out randomly around the room. The lighting was also dimmer in most of the room but bright around the area where Lord Death would be standing and introducing everyone who agreed to help. Patti was looking around with wide sparkling eye at all the decorations when her smile suddenly turned into a pout. Chrona noticed this, but because he wasn't sure what to do about it, he nudged Kidd and pointed shakily to Patti.

"Patti, what seems to be wrong? You're scaring Chrona..." Patti childishly pointed over to a familiar albino.

"Why is **THAT** thing talking to Soul?" Hearing her partner's name caused Maka to turn around. She immediately saw what Patti was pointing at, and she didn't like it. One of the newer girls was chatting Soul up. She had short hair that had been dyed several times and was currently a dark blonde color, black glasses, a too tight shirt that made her look large in the gut area, a skirt that was entirely too short, and heels that didn't go with anything. Liz scoffed at the younger girl's attempt to seduce the scythe.

"Ailea has no idea how to flirt. She's fake and not even that pretty. And she actually thinks that she has a shot with Soul? **HA.** That's rich." Maka knew that Liz really didn't have a reason to hate Ailea, but she still appreciated what she was doing. Liz and the others knew Maka didn't like Ailea and that Aliea hated Maka, so they'd all silently agreed to never give the younger girl the time of day. While the eldest Thompson sister turned her attention elsewhere, Maka kept an eye on her weapon and the younger miester who so desperately tried to steal him. It was pretty clear that Soul wanted to be anywhere but there, but Ailea didn't seem to get that. She kept trying to close the distance between herself and Soul, but he'd always move a set back or to the side to get some space from her. He then noticed Maka and made his exit. He cut the girl off halfway through her question.

"Uh, I gotta go. I see my miester." He didn't wait for her protest as he walked off in Maka's direction. Ailea stomped her foot down and stalked off towards her friends. The one who had bleach blonde hair giggled at her friend's pissy look.

"Operation: Steal Soul didn't go too well, did it?" Ailea turned to her and frowned.

"Ugh. Not at all. He seemed _sooo_ interested and then he saw his stupid miester and left. She ruins everything!" Her other friend who was a red head added her two-cents.

"She's so plain. Why would he wanna be her partner anyways? She's not hot at all! You're _waaayyy_ prettier!"

"Oh god I know! I'm way better suited for him! I'm probably a way better miester than her and I'd do literally anything he would ask me to do. I bet Maka won't even put out for him. She's probably such a prude..." The the other two eagerly agreed with her. Aliea vented about it all a little more, and then the three of to talk about weekend plans and some sales in shops that they frequented while everyone was waiting for Death to get things started.

After pushing through the crowd, Soul finally made his way to his friends. Maka raised an eyebrow at him.

"How'd that conversation go? You really seemed to be enjoying yourself." The sarcasm and teasing tone in her voice was apparent. Soul smirked.

"Oh definitely. Ailea really just gets how to wrap a guy around her finger. And I mean, did you see her body? Who doesn't want to have a catch like that as a miester?" He was pleased when he heard Maka giggle at his cruel humor. Chrona was fidgeting nervously at the sudden happiness while Black Star, Liz and Patti were laughing hysterically. Kidd and Tsubaki were trying to hide their amusement. He knew it was mean and kind of uncalled for, but he couldn't help it. He didn't try to hide his disdain for the girl, but she wouldn't leave him alone. And he didn't want Maka to ever have a reason to think he'd abandon her and take Ailea up on her offer to be his miester. That's one discussion the two had never needed to have, and he didn't want to give her a reason to bring it up. Chrona noted the time on one of the eight clocks in the room.

"Wh-what's keeping your father? It's 8:38..." Kidd looked around and noted that there was absolutely no sign of things starting soon.

"I'm not quite sure. He said that things would start promptly at 8. I don't know of any reason for why things are so delayed."

"Maybe the guests are running late?" Tsubaki had a plausible idea there. Death City was off the beaten path and not an easy place to get to.

"**THAT'S NO EXCUSE! NOBODY MAKES THE GREAT BLACK STAR WAIT!**" They all just rolled their eyes at Black Star's outburst. He may have become one hell of a miester and fighter, but he never learned how to shut up. He started to ramble about almost surpassing God, and Maka was sure she would kill him before Lord Death got to start everything.

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><p><strong>20 Minutes Later<strong>

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><p>It took awhile, but Lord Death finally made an appearance. A few people were annoyed that he didn't seem bothered or sorry that he was almost an hour late, but most were too afraid and respectful to voice that. Except for Black Star. He wasted almost 10 minutes yelling at Lord Death, but he had finally calmed down.<p>

"Now, let's cut to the chase! You all know why you're here, and as Black Star so graciously pointed out; I've kept you waiting long enough. First I'll reacquaint you all with Medusa and her companions." After he said that, said witch walked on the the semi large stage that Death was on, followed by three others. The four faced the students and all the girls started squeeling.

"That guy is soo **HOT!**"

"Look at those arms, oh my god!"

"I don't even care that he's a bad guy... hot damn!" Eruka started mumbeling silently to herself about all of these girls being whores which caused Misune to quietly giggled. Medusa whispered for them to shut up and make a good impression and Free just scratched the back of his head, unaware that he was the eye of half the females in the rooms' affection. When Medusa looked forward, she spotted a certain pink haired boy. He was shaking uncontrollably and looked terrified. Ragnurak was sticking out of his back and cowering behind him. She almost laughed at how he still feared her. _'How sad... And here I thought these new friends of his were helping him grow a backbone. Guess I was wrong.'_ Lord Death started speaking again.

"Now I know there is a lot of tension here. But **ALL** of us must put what has happened between these two groups behind us for now. If we want to stand a chance with against Arachnophobia and this new mysterious threat, we must all work as a team. Is that understood?" There was a unison of 'yes Lord Death's' heard from the room, followed by a sarcastic laugh. Everyone looked to Medusa, who at that point just couldn't help herself.

"My my my, how nicely you've trained them all Death. They're like little puppies eagerly waiting to please their master." Some insulted gasps were heard, but Medusa ignored them. Lord Death continued introductions.

"Now we all know Medusa. But only a few of you know who she's with. We have Eruka and Misune, both of whom are witches, and Free. I'm sure you'll all learn their stories and powers later. But it's getting late and I know what you're all really waiting for." He motioned for the four on stage to take a seat in the chairs that were off to the side of the stage.

"Of course the ex-bad guys get fucking chairs. That's real cool..."

"Stop complaining Soul, they're guests, remember?" Although even Kidd would never really consider Medusa a guest. The spotlights seemed to get a little bit brighter, and everyone stopped talking. Death called out the people behind the curtain, and everyone stopped breathing. Before them stood the most gorgeous group of people that anyone had ever seen. Three boys and two girls who looked no older than 20. _'How on Earth could these people have any kind of intense experience? And why does Lord Death regard them so highly?'_ Lord Death went through and introduced each person, one by one.

The first boy had short spikey blonde hair and deep dark blue eyes. His skin was a very light tan color and he wore a muscle grey T-shirt and it showed off his strong built arms. He also sported light wash jeans and basketball shoes. He was the youngest looking of the boys and slightly shorter than the other two. His left ear sported a silver stud. He had a lazy grin on his face and his eyes were filled with a small amount of amusement and boredom.

Next to him stood a girl who looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. She had gorgeously long, light brown hair that had a lovely wave to it and dark chocolate brown eyes. She had a light amount of makeup on, and she was very tan. Her outfit consisted of a form fitting dark purple shirt that stopped right where her dark skinny jeans left off and black leather high heeled boots that started right below her knees. It showed of her curves perfectly, without making her look slutty.

Next to her stood another girl, and she looked more street savvy than her companion. Like the kind who'd help you run and successfully escape the cops and be on great terms with every drug dealer and gang. Her hair was a little shorter than her friends, and was an abnormally bright velvet red color with choppy bangs and an overall choppy cut. Her eyes were a strange purple color and she had on a notable amount of eyeliner and mascara, but was otherwise makeup-less. She had her nose pierced, her left ear pierced five times including an industrial bar, her right ear pierced three times and a conch piercing in that ear, and a sign that her left eyebrow was pierced too but currently not in. Her skin wasn't as tan as the other two, but it has some color to it. She sported a tight black band T-Shirt, black ripped skinny jeans that seemed to have neon paint splattered on them, and fairly worn skater shoes. Her eyes held a mischievous look in them.

The fourth person was another boy, and Maka couldn't believe it. He looked exactly like her knight in shining armor, only he didn't seem the least bit happy or caring. His brown hair seemed more haphazard than she last saw him, and his dark brown eyes were annoyed and hard. He was a little taller than the first boy, about as tan, and slightly more muscular. He had on a white loose T-shirt and normal jeans along with tennis shoes. He also had tattoo on his hand that looked like some kind of symbol, but it was too hard to read from afar. _'Hunter...?'_ It seemed as though the guy could feel Maka's intense gaze on him, because he looked right at her. His mind seemed to place her familiarity because within a second his cold expression transformed into to one he had given her in the alley. No seemed to notice this, except for Tsubaki who looked at her with a severely confused expression, but she didn't say anything.

Next to Hunter was another boy, and he was probably the most attractive one, and also the most intimidating. He had jet black hair that was choppy and about as long as Hunter's. His eyes were almost black in appearance, and they were empty and cold looking. His skin was slightly tanned, and he was also built, but not bulky. He wore a fitted dark red shirt and black jeans with black skater shoes. He had a couple tattoos on his left arm, but no one could read them. He also had a scar on his neck that looked like had never been properly examined, but it only added to his tough guy appearance. His left ear was pierced twice, and he also wore silver dog tags. His face gave nothing away and was completely impassive.

Lord Death began introducing them, starting with the blonde boy.

"Now, next to me we have Lance Durino. He's 17 years old, from Las Vegas, Nevada, and a weapon. Next to him we have Sierra Sogekihei, born in Numazu, Shizuoka and currently a resident of Miami, Florida. She's 18 years old and Lance's miester. Beside her is Ember. Another 18 year old miester. Hunter Sogekihei is 19 years old, resides in Hollywood, California, and is Ember's weapon. Beside him is Trace Guarinot. This young man is 19 years old and a weapon. Last we have Kia-" Lord Death moved forward and looked to the empty space besides Trace. "Well what do ya know, we seem to be missing someone.. Would any of you happen to know where Kiara is?" Trace looked at Lord Death with an empty expression on his perfect face. He took his time in replying.

"Somewhere that's not here would be my best guess." The red haired girl, Ember, appeared to remember something important because she suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"**OOOH!** I remember? Kiara said she had something better to do."

"Did she happen to say what?" Ember pretended to think about that and Sierra nudged her and laughed.

"She said anything would be better than meeting a bunch of lame babies like these." Lord Death nodded.

"Alrighty then, sounds good to me!" Over half the students nearly fell over at that. Not only were a bunch random people insulting them all, but now even Lord Death seemed to be! This wasn't what anyone expected. These people hadn't matched anybody's idealization. It was almost frustrating to them all. Lord Death talked some more, though most of the room had zoned out, and then everyone was dismissed.

* * *

><p>"That was... Interesting. What'd you guys think of them?" Soul responded to Liz's question first.<p>

"They seemed cocky."

"The three guys looked pretty fit and experienced though." Kidd added. Soul huffed.

"Yeah but they can't be **THAT** experienced. They were hardly any older than us. The blonde guy, uhh, Lance, is the same age as Liz and Tsubaki! I bet your old man just made them sound like hot shit."

"**WELL,** none of them seemed like they'd be any match for the great Black Star! I bet they're not all that great!" For once Maka and the others agreed with Black Star, even if was only with half of his statement. Tsubaki added another thing for the group to wonder.

"What about the girl who didn't even show up? And her reason for not coming? It was quite rude" Maka thought about that.

"I'm already not a fan of her's.."

"Oh forget about that! Did you girls **SEE** those three guys? I've never seen such hot men before!" That was so Liz and of course Patti was completely agreeing with her sister, only adding insult to injury. Soul, Black Star, and Kidd all looked at each other, a bit insulted. Chrona just walked beside Patti, fidgeting with his shirt.

"Jeez, thanks a lot Liz..."

**"THE GREAT BLACK STAR IS HOTTER THAN ANY OF THOSE THREE PEASANTS!"**

"It's because of these horrid unsymmetrical stripes, isn't it? **HOW REVOLTING THEY ARE!**" Patti just laughed like a maniac at the now sulking three boys while Maka, Tsubaki, and even Liz tried to make peace quickly. Chrona looked at Patti, slightly terrified.

"H-how can you laugh? They seem upset... What should we do?" Patti stopped mid laugh and looked at the pinkette, slightly confused.

"What do ya mean? It's _funnnyy_! And they'll be fine! We don't have to do a thing!" She gave him a bright smile that almost seemed un-Patti like. Chrona wasn't sure why but he felt slightly embarrassed and so his quickly looked away. Patti just started laughing again. While that was happening, the other three girls tried their best to give the boys an ego boost. Soul seemed the least effected, which was a relief to Maka, but unfortunately for Tsubaki and Liz, their miesters were a bit more sensitive. Black Star took Liz's comment to heart and was now in the process of doing 10,000 crunches. Kidd mistook it and thought she was pointing out how unsymmetrical he was, and was weeping and calling himself an abomination.

"Now now Kidd, you aren't a disgusting abomination, I didn't mean anything by it, honestly! You're perfect the way you are." She patted his back and tried to get him to stop, and it was kind of working, but not as much as she hoped. Tsubaki wasn't having much luck either.

"Please Black Star, there's nothing wrong with you. You're quite handsome if you ask me..." Black Star glanced over at his weapon, and silently took note of her faint blush. He decided not to say anything about it right there, and instead continued doing crunches and ranting about needing to surpass God and these new guys.

After another 10 minutes, they finally calmed down. The group just stayed there and chatted even though it was pretty late. Tsubaki turned to Maka and asked the question that had been on her mind since the gathering an hour earlier.

"Maka, is there something you aren't telling us?" Maka looked at her older friend, confusion plastered on her face.

"Um, no. What are you talking about Tsubaki?"

"It's just that just a little while ago when we were all being introduced to the people who had agreed to help, I couldn't help but notice something. The second boy we were introduced to, Hunter, seemed extremely unhappy. Except for one moment. He looked over and made eye contact with someone in the crowd and his bored, pissed, and cold expression changed to a warm, gentle and caring one..." Maka was about to say something but Tsubaki gave her a look that said she wasn't finished. "His expression changed when he saw and made eye contact with you."

"..." The group was just staring at Maka now, waiting for her reply. _'What can I even say? I can't lie. I mean to Liz or Black Star or Patti yes. Maybe even to Kidd and possibly Chrona. But not Tsubaki. And not Soul..'_ Soul could feel how conflicted and guilty Maka's soul felt_. 'Wait, so Maka knows him?'_ He put his hand on his miester's shoulder. When she looked at him he gave her a look, encouraging her to tell them.

"Okay okay. So I kind of lied when I was telling you guys what happened to me. Everything leading up to the alley way did happen. But how I got away was kind of fabricated. Those guys didn't start killing each other. They had everything figured out way before hand, and I thought I was done for. Until **HE** showed up. I had my eyes closed, so I didn't know exactly what was happening. I just heard screaming and yelling and shooting and flesh being cut open. I was so afraid. When I finally opened my eyes, the three men were gone and there was a boy standing there, his arms in the form of sword blades. At first I was terrified that he was going to kill me next, but his arms turned back to normal and he turned around to help me. He told me how the three men were actually Kishin eggs. He saved my life and when I tried to thank him he wouldn't accept it. I didn't think I'd ever see him again, but I did. Tonight. The boy who saved me was Hunter."

"Maka... Why did you not tell us some super hot stranger saved your life?"

"That would be what you're worrying about, Liz. But Maka, why did you leave out the fact that you were attacked by Kishin eggs? You even lied to my father about it." Maka looked away in embarrassment. How could she have lied right to Lord Death's face? No one but her would be stupid enough to do that. Kidd cleared his throat, making Maka look at him again. "But I have a feeling my father knows you lied. He's no idiot, if three Kishin eggs were living in Death City, he wouldn't just ignore it. He was probably watching them, and when they disappeared the day you were missing and these new people arrived here, he must have put two and two together."

"So I guess that means there's no point in trying to hide that from him anymore.." After chatting for a little bit longer, Soul collected his motorcycle and the group dispersed, each to their respective homes for the night.

* * *

><p><strong>At Maka and Soul's<strong>

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><p><strong>"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"<strong> Soul shot up out of bed at the sound of a gut wrenching scream. It was originating from down the hall.

"Shit. Maka." He ran like a bat out of hell from his room to hers', nearly breaking down the doors in the process. His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and he found his miester balling her eyes out, clinging to Blair who was trying to sooth the shaking girl. The magic cat looked up at Soul, her eyes were concerned, confused, and terrified all at the same time.

"Soul, I don't know how to calm her down. I'm never here when she has these nightmares, and when I am I'm in the other room or I bolt before she comes too.. Help nyaaa." Soul sighed.

"Get out of here Blair. I'll take it from here." Blair sent him a thankful smile and untangled herself from Maka. She turned back into her purple cat form and ran out of the room to her second favorite place in the world, the cushioned windowsill. Soul slowly approached Maka.

"Hey, you okay?" She turned her face to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, her long dirty blonde hair was a tangled mess, and she was shaking. Maka shook her head, telling him that she was, in fact, not okay. He walked across her room to her bed that was against the back wall, the window right by it. He sat on the very edge of it and just stared at the wall across from him. It was covered in pictures from over the years. Some of them were of her and all their friends, others of just their friends and a few of just her and Soul. Then there was one of when she was little, with her, her father, and her mother. _'When did she put that one up?'_ He heard Maka shift, and he turned to her. She was looking out her window, so she didn't notice him staring. He never had to really comfort or talk to Maka when she had these nightmares. Apparently his presence was enough to let her know that everything was okay. He just watched her for a few minutes. She was wearing one of his old shirts that was too big for her with socks that went to right below her knees. Because of the way she was sitting, he couldn't tell if she had shorts on or not, not that it made a difference to him. Everything seemed to settle down until Maka suddenly jumped up off the bed, making a weird noise that was probably met to be a scream. She landed on the floor clumsily and fell on her butt. Soul would have laughed, but she actually looked terrified.

"What's wrong?"

"There was something outside... I-it looked right at me..."

"It? What did you see exactly?"

"I'm not sure Soul... It had white eyes... And it looked kind of human, but almost deformed. And it had long stringy ink black hair. I thought it could be Kishin, but when I did a soul perception, there was nothing there. No soul... It looked right at me. And then... Then it waved." Soul looked at his miester's newly shaking form.

"I'll take a look, alright?" She nodded. Soul crawled to the head of Maka's bed and then looked to the right where the window was. He looked outside for a good 10 minutes before reaching a conclusion.

"Well, I don't see anything. If something was out there, it's long gone now." Maka sighed in relief and made her way back to her bed, ungracefully plopping down.

"Thanks Soul."

"Heh, no problem. Now, exactly when did you take that shirt?"

"Two weeks ago. I was doing your laundry and it was in there, but it was still folded and I wasn't about to wash an already clean shirt. And since you didn't seem to be missing it I decided to make it my new sleep shirt."

"Haha, I don't know what's sadder, the fact that you have designated sleep shirts, or the fact that you're slowly stealing my closet from me." Maka laughed and fell back onto her pillow.

"Shut up. It's not my fault you don't try to take them back!" She yawned after saying that and Soul laughed.

"Looks like somebody is ready for bed." After getting another yawn and a nod, Soul was in the process of getting up so Maka could go to bed when she stopped him. "What's up tiny-tits?" He knew that nickname didn't suit his partner anymore, but it was second nature for him to call her that. She looked slightly embarrassed while trying to think of a way to answer him.

"Stay... Please?" Her face was bright red and Soul knew why. _'She thinks I'll take that the wrong way. Ha, no way I can pass up the opportunity to embarrass her even more.'_

"Wow Maka, I didn't know you wanted me like _**that**_." Her eyes widened when he said that.

"Wha- No no no no no! That's not what I meant!"

"You don't need to lie about it. I know about your crush on me, so I had a feeling that it would get to this eventually.." Just to add effect, Soul moved so that he was over Maka, his arms and legs on either side of her.

"So-Soul! You ass, that's not what I was suggesting! I-I-I um. I'm just well, kind of scared..." Soul inched his face closer to hers until his mouth was right by her ear.

"Scared of what Maka?" He licked her ear with his tough slightly, just to mess with her. "Hmmm?"

"Eeep! **SOUL!**" She tried to push him off but it didn't really work. He was off of her, but now they were on the other end of her bed, and she was on top of him in the same position he had just been in. Her oversized shirt she had on fell up, exposing her toned legs and unexpectedly sexy panties. Maka's breathing was rapid and she was shaking ever so slightly. Soul's eyes were as wide as plates and his face was bright red. They just stared at each other, not knowing what to do. After a few moments though, Soul's hands went to the base of his stolen shirt. Maka nearly jumped out of her skin, her mind playing out a thousand scenarios that might follow, but she wasn't sure whether she was beyond thankful or extremely disappointed with what he decided to do. Soul pulled her shirt down, so that everything that had been exposed was once again covered. She then pushed herself up, so that she was now sitting at the head of her bed using her pillow as a cushion. Soul stared up at Maka's cream colored ceiling, collecting his thoughts.

"Well that was..." Soul couldn't find the word.

"Nothing. It was nothing and it didn't happen." Soul lifted his head up to look at Maka. She was staring at the wall that suddenly became really interesting and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. He sat up and crawled over to her so that he was right in front of her.

"Hey, what's with you? We didn't do anything except land in an awkward position. And we've done more with no issues after, so what's the big issue here?" Maka looked up at him and took a deep breath before speaking.

"It's what you said Soul. You called me out on my crush. You didn't do that those other times, and those were just kisses! And you promised you wouldn't bring it up! Ever." Now that was kind of a slap in the face. Soul had known since six months into his and Maka's partnership that she had a huge crush on him, and when he had asked her about it, he also promised that he wouldn't use it against her or tease her with it which was why she admitted to it. And he had gone out of his way to keep that promise. He had also kissed her, numerous times for numerous reasons. He knew she wanted him to be her first kiss, whether she'd own up to it or not, and so that was his birthday present to her two years ago. And between then and now there had been more; some complete accidents, some in the heat of the moment, either a heated argument or a touching moment, and some because she asked. He shook his head.

"Damn. I wasn't being serious Maka. I was just trying to rile you up. You know I wouldn't purposely use that against you. And before you start yelling about me taking you too seriously, I wasn't. I knew what you meant; you just wanted me here for a sense of security." He started to get up. "Look, I'll be right down the hall. And I'll keep my door open in case you need me here fast. I'll see you in the morning." He was about to get off her bed when she grabbed his wrist. He looked to her for an answer, but she was still staring at the wall. "Maka? What?"

"I don't want you to leave..."

"You're so indecisive." But his words were light and joking. He turned on his heel and crawled over her so that he was against the wall and window. He pulled the covers over them and in seconds Maka cuddled against him, her hands resting on his exposed chest, tracing his scars. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer. In a few minutes the pair drifted into sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>6:00 AM<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>-BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-<strong>

"_Fuuuuuuuck._ Turn it off Maka."

"Get off me and I will." That plan didn't sound as good to Soul, so he went to plan B. he lifted his fist and slammed it onto the accursed object making that obnoxiously loud noise, effectively breaking it into pieces. Maka's eyes shot open. "**SOUL!** That was my alarm clock!" She started to squirm to try and get out of his grip, but he just tightened it.

"Well it had it coming. And I wasn't ready to get up yet." He pushed his head into her neck and rolled over, making it so she was against the wall and him.

"_Soouull_, stop it. It's time to get ready for school."

"We still have an hour. And I doubt that we're gonna be doing anything interesting. Missions are still postponed and we probably won't be learning since those old students are back." For once, Maka really couldn't argue with Soul's logic.

"I guess you're right... But I don't wanna be late. Can we get ready in like half an hour?" Soul grumbled but reluctantly agreed. Then he realized something_. 'You're not gonna know when half an hour is without your alarm clock. I win.'_ With that last thought he drifted into a light sleep, Maka already asleep in his arms.

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><p>Precious ending, I know(; hahahahahahahhahaha okay cool. Let me know what yoou think so far! And just so everyone is aware, if you want to give me more characters, <strong>PLEASE DO!<strong> Just leave a review with their name and description and all that or do that fancy private messaging thing. I love made up characters that add depth (or even no depth) to a story(:

Mkaaayy, go review, and then go enjoy chapter 4!

**(8/2)Edit: Changed some of how the old student's introductions went. More spelling and grammar. **


	4. Enter: Kiara Slayer!

Howdy friends! this is probably record uploading time. Two chapters in one day? Eff yea! okay. nothing has changed since last chapter. I'm still spelling disabled and I still want more reviews. Chapter 5 is completely done and I'm halfway through chapter 6, but they will never be uploaded until this story gets more fricken reviews. Please?(:

This is one of my favorite chapters. It introduces my favorite character ever. you all better like it. And I still don't own Soul Eater.

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<br>Chapter 4**

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><p>"How is this my fault?"<p>

"You broke my alarm clock!"

"Yeah well you said we could sleep for thirty more minutes. Soo, not my fault."

**"MAKA-CHOP!"** Soul held his head in pain and grumbled. These morning squabbles between the two were becoming more and more common, and although neither of them said it, they didn't like it. But then again, neither was doing anything to change it.

"What the hell? She's really gotta stop that..." Soul got up and dusted himself off. He looked forward and saw Maka impatiently waiting for him. "Not cool, Maka."

"Whatever Soul. Just hurry up."

* * *

><p><strong>With Black Star and Tsubaki<strong>

* * *

><p>"Please Black Star, we're already late enough as it is… You can run 5 miles after school." Black Star looked at his partner. He didn't want to neglect his training, but he also didn't want to make Tsubaki upset.<p>

"Alright, Tsubaki. Let's go! I'll just up it to 50 miles after school!" Tsubaki sweat dropped, but followed her friend._'If you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll end up more exhausted and tired than anything...'_ The rest of their walk was almost completely peaceful, which is something most would find unusual for Black Star. But it was normal for Tsubaki. Her miester was loud and obnoxious around everyone, but when it was just the two of them, he was calm and even caring. _'You've really grown up, Black Star. Even if you won't show anyone else, I'm sure they've notice how much stronger you've gotten. And to think you used to be so vain and loud... I'm glad you've finally realized you're more than what everyone thought.' _Black Star was a good 10 feet ahead of her when he slowed down. "Hey, Tsubaki. Weren't you afraid of us being late? Come on slow poke!" Tsubaki looked at him and smiled warmly.

"Coming Black Star!" She quickly caught up to him and they fell into a comfortable stride. After walking for a few minutes, the pair caught sight of Kidd and the Thompson sisters.

**"HIYA KIDD!"** Said boy stopped walking and turned to greet his friends.

"Black Star, Tsubki. Good morning you two."

"Ha, you guys late too?" Tsubaki nodded to Liz.

"Black Star insisted he finish his morning training."

"Sounds about right. Patti wanted to finish her paper mâché giraffe before we left. And of course Kidd had to make sure it was symmetrical..." Taubaki giggled. Patti proudly showed said giraffe and then proceeded to tear its head off. Kidd near passed out.

**"WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU DO THAT? IT WAS PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL AND NOW YOU'VE RUINED IT! HOW DISGUSTING."** He dramatically fell to the ground crying.

"Oh Kidd..." Liz shook her head. She had to admit that Kidd had been getting less OCD about symmetry these past few months, but he still had his major freak outs all the time. Patti worked her magic and started the process of calming him down. At some point during his episode, Chrona and Ragnarok appeared on the scene. Tsubaki engaged him in a conversation that quickly started using big words, so Liz lost interest in that rather quickly. That was something else she noticed. Since his last encounter with Maka, when he was on the bad guys' side, Chrona was slowly but surely starting to change. He was becoming more outspoken, although whenever Black Star or one of the other guys challenged him, he'd lose some of his confidence and the girls had finally gotten him out of that weird dress that he wore before. Now he wore jeans, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt. Chrona had also seemed to take a liking to Patti for whatever reason, and Liz personally thought it was adorable in a weird way. She heard her name being called and turned to see Maka and Soul approaching them.

"Oh hey guys! I see you're both late too?" Maka looked slightly irritated. Judging by Soul's expression the two had had a fight a little bit ago. _'Hm, they sure have been fighting a lot more than usual recently... I wonder what the issue is.' _

"Yeah, because somebody broke my alarm clock." Maka looked accusingly at Soul.

"For the last time,** YOU** said we could sleep for 30 more minutes!"

"And we would have known when those thirty minutes were up if you hadn't smashed my clock!" Now that brought about some more questions. Tsubaki looked curiously at her friends.

"Um...why was Soul even in your room? And why would he have a reason to smash your alarm?" Without even thinking of what her response would probably imply Maka answered.

"Because it woke him up. And Mr. Cool Guy over here wanted to sleep longer." Kidd, who had by this point recovered from his episode, asked his question next.

"So you're saying Soul was in your bed when the alarm clock went off?"

"Yes, that is what I'm saying." Apparently Maka didn't quite get what they were asking.

"When the hell did you two start sleeping together?" Liz really knew how to cut to the point. Maka's face matched Soul's eye color when she realized what her friends were thinking. Soul seemed to have decided to start paying attention to the conversation too at that point.

**"WE AREN'T SLEEPING TOGETHER!"** They screamed in unison. Patti burst out laughing even more.

**"YOU GUYS TOTALLY ARE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

"No we aren't! I had a nightmare okay? Soul just came to make sure I was okay, and whenever he was leaving I was still afraid so I asked him to stay!" Liz sighed.

"We know you aren't... We just wanted to have a little fun with you two... But jeez Maka, that's like your tenth nightmare in the past two weeks." Tsubaki made her way over to her friend.

"Are you sure you're okay? These seem to be causing you a lot of sleepless nights. You're a lot jumpier than normal too."

"I'm fine you guys. They're just bad dreams. It's not like I'm gonna die from them or anything." Soul shook his head.

"Yeah but you scream your head off every other goddamn night..."

"Can we just drop it please? We're almost 2 hours late you guys!" Reluctantly they all agreed to leave it. Not forever, but just for now. The 8 of them quickly made their way to the DWMA and didn't say anything or let their eyes wander, just to avoid any further delay. When they finally climbed the steps the group was met with an unexpected surprise. Before them were four of the old students. Hunter was leaned up against a wall near the entrance of the school, Lance was sitting on the awkward half wall with Sierra leaning against him, and Ember was laying on the top step with her headphones in and blaring. Lance looked over at the sound of footsteps.

"Jeeez, could you guys have gone any slower? We've been here since fucking 7 o'clock." Kidd raised an eyebrow.

"Why exactly are you waiting for us?" Sierra looked at them and answered.

"Your dad told us to. He wants to speak with all of us."

"Strange, he didn't mention that to any of us." Lance rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied to Kidd's comment.

"Probably because you weren't here on time?"

"Hm, I suppose you have a point there." There was a light silence in the air. Lance seemed nice enough to them all, whereas Hunter had been staring them down since they got there. The two girls didn't seem too bothered by their presence, though one was completely unaware that they were even there. Liz looked at Ember for a bit. Hunter noticed and answered the question he knew the blonde had.

"She's asleep. Ember can doze off just about anywhere as long as she's got her music with her." Now that's something Soul could respect. Hunter added another thought, "She also hates waiting. We're pretty sure it's physically impossible for her to stay completely still." Chrona looked at the sleeping red head. He, of course, took the _'keeping still' _comment very literally.

"She's being really still now..." Sierra laughed and moved from her spot by Lance over to her friend.

"He didn't mean that literally, though it's true enough. Look at her left foot" Chrona and the others looked where Sierra had instructed and sure enough Ember's foot was moving to the beat of the song currently playing. "Even if she's asleep, she's moving. Ember is a really fidgety person." After she said that, Maka took a second to look around._  
><em>

"If you don't mind me asking, where is that third guy, Trace?" Sierra was about to answer Maka's question when Lance loudly coughed, gaining everyone's attention.

"He's already in the Mirror Room with Stein, Spirit, and your dad. Someplace where we should all be. Like right now." Sierra turned to her weapon.

"Chill you big baby. Lord Death won't mind if we take a bit longer. He's been waiting as long as we have been, remember." She turned back around and Lance made a face at her. The girl seemed to be able to sense it and faced him again with a pouty face, threw a pebble that seemed to materialize out of nowhere at him, stuck her tongue out, and then turned back around._ 'We're supposed to learn something from them?'_ Maka watched as Sierra started to wake Ember up. She shook her ever so lightly but received no response. She took her iPod and turned it down so that Ember would be able to hear her.

"Come one sweetie, time to wake up. Up up up." Ember mumbled something incoherent and rolled to the opposite side Sierra was on. She sighed and stood up. "Hunter, you're good at waking her up..." Said boy rolled his eyes but pushed himself away from the wall he had been against the whole time. He walked over to his miester and leaned over her. He then proceeded to kick her in the stomach. Not hard enough to seriously hurt her, but hard enough to get her to jolt upward. She looked up at him with daggers in her eyes.

"What the fuck was that you jackass?" He didn't even dignify it with an answer before turning around and heading towards the entrance of the school.

"Let's go." Something in the way he said that made everyone start moving. Although he started walking first, Hunter seemed to slow down and went from walking with Lance, to walking with Ember and Sierra, to walking with Maka. Black Star had been on the other side of her but he slowed and walked next to Soul. Maka's friends didn't take their eye off of the boy walking next to her.

"Hey stranger."

"Hey. How you holding up? You seem to be doing better than when I last saw you." Maka looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm okay. Everything is healing up fine thankfully. I'm just lucky you showed up when you did." He shook his head with a smirk on his face.

"That's great to hear. But don't even talk like that, got it? You made it out okay, and that's all that matters. Me showing up was just pure coincidence." Ember looked back when he said that. _'And if you hadn't she'd be dead. Pretty lucky coincidence.'_ Hunter looked away from Maka and to his miester. He motioned for her to join them and so Ember slowed her pace and walked on the other side of Hunter. "Maka, I'd like you to meet Ember, my miester." Maka looked over to the girl and smiled.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Hunter has told me a little bit about you." Ember looked from Hunter to Maka.

"Likewise, Maka. From what I heard you put up quite a fight in that alley. I can respect that. Now what exactly did Hunter tell you?"

"Well like I said, only a little bit. Basically just that you were a great miester, and that you two don't actually need each other in battle... Is that true?" Ember looked back up at Hunter, amusement and an unknown emotion all over her face.

"Did he now? I wasn't aware he'd just share that kind of stuff with a complete stranger. But I guess since he's already decided to tell you that, I can confirm it. We don't need each other in fights, and we actually hardly use each other. Before Hunter and I agreed to be "partners" we fought solo. He's more than capable in fighting without a miester, as you saw, and I don't need a weapon." Sierra and Lance looked back when Ember said that.

"It's not just those two that are sufficient going solo. Lance and I are too, and so are Trace and his partner, Kiara. We just pair up because it makes battles end faster." Maka was even more amazed than before. Their entire group was made up of completely independent people. And of course that cause some major disbelief with Soul, Black Star, and Liz. Even Chrona and Tsubaki found it a little out there. Patti wasn't even paying attention to anything being said.

"There's no way that that's true. Maybe for weapons, but not two girl miesters." Ember turned around to look Soul straight in the face. She was glaring daggers at him.

"Are you fucking joking? You think that just cause I'm a girl that I can't handle myself?" Soul stared right back at the girl.

"No, I don't that you can't handle yourself. I just don't believe you can handle yourself against Kishin eggs with no weapon." Black Star nodded in agreement.

"It's just a fact that guys will always be stronger than girls."

"Ummm, what?" Liz, Maka, Ember, Patti (who just started listening), Sierra, and Ember were now all glaring at Black Star. Soul just shook his head at his friend.

"Jeez Black Star, that wasn't what I was getting at at all..." Lance turned his head to look at Black Star.

"I would just stop talking man. Ember has a pretty big temper. She's probably one of the last people on earth you'd wanna piss off."

"And you know Liz isn't afraid to kick your ass." Black Star looked from Lance to Kidd and then to Soul and finally to the girls.

"Whatever..." Ember huffed and then turned back around. The rest of the walk was silent except for the occasional question or a small conversation. When they finally reached the Mirror Room's door they all went inside. When they entered they immediately went to the circular platform where Lord Death, Stein and Spirit were standing. When Spirit saw his daughter he immediately entered crazy dad mode and went running towards her.

"Oh my darling little girl! How wonderful it is to see you here!" He jumped towards her for a hug but Maka side stepped and continued walking forward. Stein just turned back to his conversation with Death while Patti and Ember laughed at Spirit's new found pain. Lance looked towards Maka with a blonde eyebrow raised.

"Daddy issues?"

"You don't even know." He chuckled at her deadpanned reply and then everyone turned their attention to Lord Death.

"Well now everybody, care for some tea?"

"I think we should just skip to explaining to them what we need. We have them all in the same place and who knows when that'll ever happen again." Stein's comment caused Maka and her friends to look around. That's when they noticed that Trace was resting comfortably on one of the strange crosses that were around the Mirror Room. Everyone was there. Except for Trace's partner. Liz commented on that.

"Apparently not everyone. Where is Kiara?" Trace, who appeared to have been asleep, opened one of his eyes revealing a dark eye. His gaze rested on the group.

"She's around, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. She's not gonna make herself known. Kiara hates large groups, and she doesn't really have any interest in meeting you guys."

"**WHAT?** Who wouldn't want to meet the incredible Black Star!" Maka rolled her eyes.

"A lot of people..." She said it loud enough for Liz and Tsubaki to hear, but not Black Star. Soul and Kidd looked at each other and seemed to have the same thought, but Chrona beat them to their question.

"Why did she even, uhh, err, agree to help?" Trace scoffed at his question.

"Kiara and I didn't even want to help with this new threat whenever Lord Death called us. But Sierra and everyone else didn't really give us too much of a choice. They still have some sense of duty to this place for whatever reason. Kiara and I never have." It wasn't the most comforting statement in the world, that's for sure. Even though it was only two of them, knowing that some of the people who were supposed to be there to help didn't even want to caused some issues with trust. It was tenser after Trace had said that, and Patti had decided to look around the room to focus on something else. That's what caused her to notice something in the window.

"Heeeeeyyyy, there's someone in that top windooowww!" Everyone followed Patti's point to the highest window in the room and sure enough, someone was up there. Trace looked up too and then went back to his previous position with his eyes closed. Sierra saw the younger kids expecting expressions and looked back to Trace. Seeing that he obviously wasn't going to give them the explanation they wanted, she took it upon herself too.

"That would be Kiara. We managed to drag her along this time, but she went up there the second we got here and refused to come down... But don't worry, you'll meet her face to face eventually." Maka and her friends looked back up to where Kiara was, but she was too far up for them to see what she looked like. Maka decided to try a soul perception, but when she did she realized that this girl wasn't giving anything away; she had a soul protect on. Maka looked to Trace, hoping he would be easier to read, but apparently he was on the same boat as his miester. _'Damn, two soul protects? What's up with them?'_ She looked next to Sierra, and was pleased to see she wasn't hiding anything.

Sierra's soul was a deep orange color and overall caring and warm, just like a mom's would be. But a deeper look showed that it was also pained, and extremely protective.

She turned her attention to Lance next. His soul was a dark blue, but lighter than navy. It came off as childish and extremely competitive, and was also aloof and loyal.

Ember's soul was red, and had the dominating feeling of rebellion and cunningness to it. When Maka examined it more, she saw it also skeptical, unsure of its surroundings, loud, and it seemed to have odd little scratches on it.

Lastly Maka looked at her knight in shining armor. Hunter's soul was a light green color. It was cynical and, much like Sierra's, pained. She tried to look deeper into it, but when she did, Hunter looked at her and in a split second he did a soul protect, cutting her off from further information. _'What the...?'_ At that moment, Maka decided that something was being hidden. Even though no one directly said it or was avoiding a certain topic, they were. And Maka was going to find out what.

Apparently everyone had been doing a size up of each other, because Lord Death had just broken the silence that Maka had never noticed.

"Now, I'll make this quick. I have a mission for you all. And when I say you all, I mean **ALL** 14 of you. 15 if you want to include Ragnarok." Soul raised a brow.

"Isn't that kind of impractical? Even sending 4 people on a mission is usually too much." Death nodded at Soul.

"Why yes it is! But it's gotta be done kiddos! I'll be having the eight of you (Kidd and his friends) work the most with the 6 of you (Hunter and his friends), and so I need all of you to see what the others are capable of. You need to know who fights with what kind of weapon, how they go about fighting, where their weaknesses are, their strengths are, and all that stuff. I'd prefer to gradually do this by putting you in groups made up of two pairs and just switching you all around till you've worked with everyone and found who you work best with, but we just don't have the time to do that." Ember raised her eyebrow. Nobody liked this plan. Nobody liked either plan if they were being completely honest.

"Lord Death, what if this mission turns out being a complete disaster?" That seemed to be the question he had been waiting to hear.

"Great question Tsubaki! If you all miserably fail this, no worries. I'm sending Stein and Spirit to do damage control if you all end up blowing it."

"Well that's comforting..." Liz mumbeled under her breath. Kidd looked from Liz to his father.

"Where will this mission be taking place exactly?" There was a silent hope among the girls for it to not be somewhere cold.

"Welp Kiddo, you'll all be traveling by plane _toooooooooooo_: Oymayakon! It's located in Russia. Pack warmly! It's their winter right now, and the temper can get as low as -96.2°F."

"Oymayakon?!" The girls all shrieked out. Of every place they could have gotten, they get the place that's only beat out in coldness by Antarctica. Fucking great. Lord Death was about to give out more mission details when Stein interrupted.

"Excuse my interruption, but appears we're now short 2 people." Everyone looked around and the first they noticed was that Trace was no longer resting comfortably on the cross. Sierra automatically looked to where Kiara had been, and sure enough, she was gone too.

"When did they even move?" Black Star was beyond confused, and so were his friends. Sierra just shook her head.

"Those two never stay in meetings like these the whole time. Actually they hardly stay any place longer than necessary." It wasn't really the fact that the two had left that unsettled everyone (aside for, their four companions), it was more so the fact that the two had left and gone completely unnoticed. Trace's resting spot had been right in their line of sight the entire time, and Kiara's perch on the window had been so high up that any of them would have noticed if she moved, they'd all been unconsciously looking to it the whole time. And then the fact that Lord Death hadn't even noticed... It didn't make sense to any of them. Lord Death sighed and spoke.

"Well, I'd say we've covered everything that was extremely pressing. You have 5 days to prepare for your trip, and you'll be leaving at 5 AM sharp. Sierra, please be sure to inform Kiara and Trace." She nodded. With that Death dismissed them all and told them that they did not need to attend their classes until they had returned from the mission.

**"YAAAHOOOOOOO!** Now that's something the great Black Star can get used too!"

"Hate to break it to ya. But it's only for this mission, dumbass." Soul just loved bursting his friends bubble. By this point they we all outside, so Black Star of course turned to Soul, looking for a fight.

"Take that back, peasant! My superiority makes me 10 times smarter than you!" Soul rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Black Star went to throw a punch at Soul, and would have probably hit him if he hadn't been doing a ridiculous battle cry. They ended up having a mock fight which meant that they were only allowed to use their human abilities (just punching and kicking and dodging and jumping, only slightly more intense). Hunter and Lance watched intently with a fidgety Chrona, asking Kidd questions here and there. The girls were in no way interested in the fight. Ember and Liz were still sulking about the mission's location, Patti was making a tower out of flat rocks, and Maka was having a conversation with Sierra.

"Look, I know you wanna know more about Kiara since she's the only one you haven't met or seen yet." It was almost as the the older girl could read her mind.

"Well, yeah. I just wanna know why she won't just meet us and what she's like... And why her and Trace don't want to help..." Maka had a feeling that she was reaching with what she wanted to know, but it shouldn't have been that surprising. Sierra exhaled a long breath before she spoke.

"She doesn't really like people. Kiara is kind of anti social when it comes to new faces... Oh man. Maka, I'm really sorry, but it's really not my place to tell you this..." Sierra's brown eyes reflected her conflicted facial expression. It was obvious that she didn't like not telling Maka what she wanted to know, but it was also very apparent that she couldn't. And Maka wanted to know why.

"Can't you tell me anything? Like her last name?"

"Slayer. That's Kiara's last name." Maka nodded.

"Anything else?" Sierra was about to respond but someone beat her to it.

"Maybe you should stick your nose out of other people's business, sweetie." The voice was smooth and harsh at the same time. It definitely belonged to a female, and this female didn't seem happy. Apparently everyone else had heard it too, because they were all looking for the owner of it. Maka looked around and then started to look up.

"Getting warmer... warmer." The higher Maka looked, the "warmer" she got, until her eyes finally rested on the figure about 45 feet up.

"You're on fire." The girl was sitting on the edge of one of the red spikes coming out of the building. She had almost jet black hair and was slim. She wore black skinny jeans and had black combat boots on with them. She had two studded belts on but they weren't there to hold her pants up, just to add more to the outfit. Her shirt was white, loose and off the shoulder, and stopped directly above her belly button, which was pierced, and exposed a toned stomach. There were signs of tattoos on her, but she was too high up for Maka to see. Maka then noticed another person on the spike directly next to it. _'Trace.. So that must make her...'_

"Kiara.. Slayer?" Maka tried to sound as tough and collected as she could.

"Sorry, wrong person." Of course Maka didn't believe that, especially when Sierra and Ember started laughing. But Black Star seemed too.

"**WELL**, then who are you mystery girl? Why don't you help my loyal subjects and I find the girl we're looking for!" That wasn't embarrassing for anyone of anything.

"I think I'll pass..." Maka shook her head at Black Star, and then looked back at Kiara. She needed to get things on track again.

"Look, I know you're Kiara. Just come down here and explain some things to us."

"Maybe if you say please, _princess_." Maka visibly cringed. She hated being called princess. Kiara noted the cringe, and immediately started picking at it. "What's the problem, don't like being called princess, princess? Let me guess, that's what your papa calls you. And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you have some unresolved daddy issues. Oh, am I striking a nerve? What he do, sleep around with some hot young blondies? Tore the family apart? How heartbreaking. Now our little princes here feels abandoned and betrayed by all men. You poor _poor_ thing you." Her voice was dripping in sarcasm. Soul looked to his miester and saw her shaking._'Damn that was harsh.'_ Sierra looked to her friend.

"Don't you think that was a little uncalled for Kiara?" Said girl shrugged.

"Not really." Liz looked accusingly at the older girl.

"What's your problem? You bitch!" Kiara raised a slim eyebrow.

"Ha. Takes one to know one." Liz, Patti, Kidd, Tsubaki, and the rest of their group decided something right there. They did not like Kiara. Maka looked back up at her.

"You talk big and you act like your hot shit, but do you have anything to back that up with?" Lance looked at Maka like she just grew a third head.

"You are not actually thinking of challenging Kiara to a fight are you." Hunter looked Kiara.

"There's no thinking here, Lance. That was a challenge." He turned to Maka and Soul. "You are fucking insane." Maka just looked at him and smiled, then turned back to Kiara.

"You ready, Kiara?" Said girl looked at them again with a positively beyond bored expression.

"Dazzle me, princess." Soul grabbed Maka's hand and in an instant turned into his scythe form. "What a cute toy." Maka ignored her rouse and charged toward the building, getting ready to get to Kiara's height.

"Oh God... This is not going to end well..." Sierra was visibly horrified. Ember just laughed and sat back, waiting for a show.

Maka jumped up and went from pillar to pillar, spike to spike to get to her desired target. When she reached the spike Kiara had been at, she stopped immediately. There was no one there. She looked over and saw Trace just sitting there.

"Just missed her. Nice effort though, you got up here a lot faster than we bet you would." Maka almost fell over.

"What? Aren't you fighting too?" He shook his head in response.

"You challenged Kiara and her abilities. Not the both of ours combined. Smartest move you made out of your idiotic challenge. Not that you even thought about that." Maka was baffled. Kiara's friends seemed to have no faith that Maka could win. What had she gotten herself into? At that moment, something made contact with Maka's cheek. Something going fast. She didn't even realize she was hit until she met the ground with such tremendous force that she created a small crater.

"You really shouldn't let your guard down honey. This is a battle after all." Maka shakily got up, her cheek now swollen and her leg bleeding from where a sharp rock cut it. She nearly balled at the amount of pain she was now in. Soul appeared in his scythes blade.

"Fuck! Maka! Maka, you okay!" She slowly got up and clenched Soul's metal handle.

"Y-yeah.. I think so." Maka got out of the crater and looked up to Kiara, who was back in her original spot, only she was standing with her arms crossed.

"You're the scrawny brat who took Asura down? No way in hell. If that's how you take on every battle, then I'm actually surprised that you aren't dead yet." Maka ignored her and charged again. Kiara shook her head. "Dumbass..." She jumped from her spike and landed behind where Maka was, quickly turning and crouching in one swift motion, sticking her leg out, effectively causing Maka to do a very painful face plant on the stone ground. Maka recomposed herself and got up quickly. She turned and swung Soul at Kiara, but the girl was no longer there. Maka was attempting to stop swinging Soul but something else stopped her, literally. Kiara had grabbed the very end of Soul's handle and forcefully pushed it the opposite way, causing it to crash directly into Maka. She choked out blood and was thrown backwards from the force, slamming into a nearby wall. Everyone minus Trace looked on utter horror.

"This can't be humane... She's actually trying to kill her!" Tsubaki cried out. Liz was tightly holding on to Kidd's arm.

"Kiara isn't even trying. She's just toying with your friend at this point." They looked at Hunter. "She shouldn't have just rushed into this fight.." They looked back to the fight and Black Star almost passed out. Kiara was going after Maka, trying to slice her. With Soul.

"**WHAT THE HELL?** Why is she wielding Soul?"

Maka rolled from side to side, blindly trying to dodge her own weapon.

"How can you wield Soul?" She managed to gasp out. She saw that Kiara still had soul protect on, so even wielding her own weapon should be impossible, let alone someone else's. Then there was the fact that Soul wasn't trying to change back. _'What the hell is going on?'_ She went to dodge another attack but didn't move fast enough. Soul's blade made contact with Maka's arm, creating a deep gash in it.

**"M-MAKA!"** Soul painfully choked out. He couldn't transform back to human form. Every time he tried it caused him an insane amount of pain. _'The the hell did this chick do? Why can she wield me without getting burned? Why can't I transform back? Fuck!'_ Kiara just kept swinging Soul. Maka finally figured out what the girl was trying to do. _'She's trying to corner me.'_ But she figured it out too late. Maka was now against a wall, and Kiara was right in front of her. She put the unsharpened side of Soul's blade against the girl's neck. Kiara leaned in so her mouth was next to Maka's ear.

"Check mate, princess." Maka's eyes grew wide and she was about to gasp but Kiara's fist connected with her stomach and she ended up coughing up more blood instead. Kiara dropped Soul and backed up. He finally changed back to his human form and was gasping for breath, his arms and mouth bleeding. He looked to Maka and then to Kiara. _'Now I get it.'_ Maka looked up and the look in her eyes told him that she got it too.

"The victor of this battle is Kiara Slayer." Everyone looked suddenly to the building entrance where Stein and Spirit stood.

"And how long of you two been there?" Stein looked to Kidd.

"The whole time. You think we'd just let Kiara fight one of you idiots without proper safety precautions? You kids may have been unaware of her abilities, but we certainly aren't." Kiara looked to them too.

"Cute. You actually thought I was gonna kill her." Maka and Soul limped their way over to the others. Now that she was closer Maka got a better look at Kiara. Her eyes were the first thing she noticed. They were lifeless and cold, and the same black color as Trace's. She wore a dog tag too. Her ears were each pierced three times, her nose was pierced, and she had a small scar next to her left ear. She then noticed her tattoos. There was one on her left wrist and it said 'Renegade' in a beautiful cursive like writing. The underside of her left arm had three more, but they were in an ancient language so it was hard to tell what they said. Her right hand had a beautiful design that went from her wrist to each finger. On the right length of her side was another tattoo. It was larger than the others and in the shape of a very elegant and old looking key. Maka had a hunch that there were more tattoos on the girl, but she had them covered up. There was no denying that this girl was absolutely beautiful either. Her dark hair was wavy and long, coming all the way down to right below her boobs, which she wasn't lacking. Everyone seemed to be less on edge now that the fight ended, except for Black Star. He didn't know why but he couldn't just leave it alone. He silently charged towards Kiara, and by the time the others noticed, it was too late for any kind of warning. Kiara stared him down as he got closer, and right as he was about to punch her, he was abruptly stopped. Between him and Kiara now stood Trace, whom had his arm in its blade form and pressed against Black Star's throat. It was the most terrifying blade that any of them ever saw. It was pitch black and long. The main blade went in the direction Trace's arm was bent for about a meter and a half. Then there was a curved part that went back and was completely sharp all around and another piece that was coming out from right above where the curve started. He looked like he was ready to slice Black Star's head off.

"Don't **EVER** try and touch my miester you little fuck. Or I **WILL** kill you on the spot." Trace's tone sent chills down everyone's spine, including Stein and Spirit's. Black Star slowly lowered his fist and backed off. Kiara rolled her eyes.

"Down boy." Trace huffed and his arm turned back to normal. He turned his back to the large group and walked past Kiara, hands in his pockets. She sighed and faced everyone.

"Looks like we're leaving." She cast her gaze directly at Maka. "Bye princess." She winked and then trailed after her weapon who had stopped and was waiting for her. Shortly after, Ember and the other three of her companions went in the same direction, saying their goodbyes as well.

"So that was the girl whom my father has always thought so highly of... Quite impressive." Soul and the others nodded. There was no denying that Kiara was on a completely different level than them, and although no one saw what the other five were capable of, they had a very strong hunch that they were too.

"Is it weird that I feel kind of bad for this new bad guy?"

"Surprisingly, no." With that last comment, everyone headed to their respective homes whether it be to train, heal up, or gather information. They all wanted to be prepared for what lied ahead of them, especially because they were slowly learning that it was going to be a lot more challenging than they first thought.

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><p><strong>BOOOOOM!<strong> I fucking love Kiara Slayer. She's going to be putting everybody in their place. I hope you all come to love her hurtful words and cruel attitude as much as I do3 I'm gonna do later chapters focusing just on my characters backgrounds, and her's will be so well written that you'll think I'm fricken J.K Rowling. (JKKK) but seriously; you guys will hopefully love those

And just so you all know, that random place that these guys are going to totally exists. google it, that's what I did hahahahahaha. and just incase anyone was disapointed in that ending, I'm not sorry. I know that I half assed it. I've accepted that. edit in your minds if you really want to.

**OKAY. **love you, mean it. byyyee! Review or no chapter 5! I'm serious.

**(8/3)Edit: I'm not gonna say what I edit anymore. Cause by the time I'm done I don't remember. And it's usually just spellingand grammar.**


	5. Before Russia

**OH MY GOD. **I'm so so sooooooo sorry that this took so long to update. My laptop broke, and then my Ipad kept crashing (I'm typing this on it and then sending myself the chapters to upload.) and then I got a super bad concussion): I'm actually not supposed to be on my computer right now, and I'm seeing double of this screen.. so you now know why anything looks like I was spazzing out... Lawlz.

**Okay!** first thing is first. to everyone who reviewed:** I Love You. so so so much. the rest of this story is to you seven beautiful people. **everyone who just favorited it or followed it, you're pretty awesome too(: i got a shit ton of favorites for this story and i really do appreciate it so much.

and to the lovely person who messaged me about how i came up with my six awesome characters: read my after story thoughts. it should give you a lot of insight. kcool.

**Second thing.** i may need to up my rating to M.. just because of how casually the word 'fuck' is thrown around..and cause things have been getting kind of sexual kind of fast (in later chapters. not this one.) Now i will never make this story have hardcore, hide your babie, gets you all hot and bothered lemons. but they **MAAY**be a blow job here and there. maybe refrences to sex. who knows. but eh, who knows. if you read this and you're like "this should be M" just say so and it's done. aigghtt.

**third order of business.** yes, i forget chrona..a lot. i have to force myself to remember him. sorry...i just suck. also, i just want everyone to know how much i struggle when i'm trying to type Black Star. Ever seen a dog try to lick peanut butter off its nose? that's me typing Black Star. I want him to seem to be getting more mature, but i just can't let go of how he is in the anime.. oh well.

Alright, I think that's everything. enjoyyy(: [i don't own soul eater]

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 5**

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><p>It had been 4 days since Lord Death had given Soul and Hunter's respective groups a few days off so that they could pack and rest for their long upcoming trip. It had given Maka plenty of free time to recover from her fight with Kiara, allowed Black Star and Tsubaki to focus solely on training, and gave Soul the time to switch between training and making sure that Maka actually took all the medicine Medusa gave her (approved by Nygius of course) and properly rested. Patti had dragged Chrona all over the place, trying to get him to become more social and comfortable around people, although her approach caused him to freak out more often than actually enjoy anything. Over the four days, Kidd had used his time trying to find out everything that he could about their new companions. Liz had helped him whenever she wasn't shopping and packing, and what they found had bothered them. That's why they had called everyone else up to come to Kidd's. Black Star and Tsubaki were currently seated in one of the love seats in the room, while Chrona and Maka each sat in one of the big comfy chairs that occupied the room. They were all waiting for Kidd and the Thompson sisters, but so far they had only seen Patti when she let them all in and that had been a solid 20 minutes ago.<p>

"So why are we all here again? I should be training!" He sunk down lower in his seat, causing him to seem shorter than Tsubaki (he's now her height. All four of the boys grew taller, but Chrona is slightly shorter than them. Patti and Maka are the shortest two, and they're the same height.) He had had one of his arms behind Tsubaki's head, but because he sunk down, it was now around the small of her back. She turned her head to him slightly.

"Now now Black Star, you can train a little once we get home. But don't you think you've trained enough? If you keep this up any longer you'll be more exhausted than anything." Black Star looked to his weapon.

"Don't worry so much! I'll be fine. A God like me can handle anything! I say we go home so I can train more right now!" Tsubaki smiled at him and shook her head.

"You'll have to wait until we're done here. Liz made this sound very urgent when she called." Soul stretched out on the red sofa he was occupying.

"Kidd did too. He said that him and Liz found something that they needed to show us all."

"Well it'd be nice if they'd actually show us what ever it is instead of keep us all waiting!" Right as Black Star said that, a box of papers came tumbling down the stairs. The papers scattered every which way.

**"PATTI! I HAD THOSE IN EVENLY DISTRIBUTED PILES AND IN A SPECIFIC ORDER! HOW COULD YOU JUST DROP THEM LIKE THAT!"** Patti came hopping down the stair laughing hysterically.

**"HAHA CAUSE IT'S FUNNY TO GET YOU ALL MAD!"** Kidd appeared right after her, in hysterics and carrying just a few pieces of paper.

"Patti... Please go and pick them up. Right. Now."

"Hehehe, **NO**." She walked over to the rest of their friends and plopped down on the coffee table. Kidd was about to lose it when Liz came down, carrying the majority of the boxes and papers.

"Knock it off you two! Kidd, none of that paper was important anyway. We can clean it up later. Now can we hurry this up? I'm sure everyone else wants to finish packing." When Liz looked at everyone else, their expressions were blank and seemed confused._ 'I guess they need to actually __**START**__ packing... Heh, nice.'_ She then moved to set all of the items in her hands down.

"Fine. Now, there's a reason you're all here right now. And if I'm being honest, it's all quite troubling." Kidd waited for Liz to put all the boxes and papers down before he continued. "Now, if we all remember, before Maka and Kiara fought, it seemed as though Kiara had completely guessed about Maka's past, saw she was right, and kept picking at it. Now this is troubling, but that's not the case. She didn't just happen to guess about your father cheating on your mother, or your unresolved problems with him." Tsubaki interrupted.

"Couldn't she have figured it out from how they responded to each other in the Mirror Room? Lance had even pointed it out and Maka had confirmed it, so couldn't Kiara have just overheard and put two and two together?" Now that sounded like a plausible explanation. But apparently it wasn't right.

"I had thought about that too. It seemed like the most logical reason, but I was told otherwise. Two days ago I was speaking with my father, getting mission details, and I decided that it was a good time to ask. He didn't avoid the question, he didn't lie. My father told me that Kiara had known that because he had told her. Not verbally though. My father had given Kiara and her friends our files. They know our pasts, our accomplishments, our failed missions, who turns into what weapon, our attitudes, and a lot more. Any thing that was put in our files, those six know about. Including Chrona's ties to Medusa, Soul's Black Blood, even things we don't know, such as teacher's thoughts on our abilities and notes that they've written in." In a split second Soul was sitting up, a look of outrage on his face.

"Are you kidding me? Why the hell would your dad give them that information and give us absolutely nothing on them!" Kidd looked directly at Soul.

"Because there was nothing to give us." Maka looked up.

"What do you mean by that?" Kidd sighed, slightly frustrated.

"I mean exactly what I just said. There was nothing to give us." He saw from everyone's expressions that they weren't following him. "These are almost all the files of past and present students of the DWMA." He motioned to all the papers scattered on the floor and to the boxes. He then held up the four pieces of paper in his hand. Only two of them seemed to be in good condition. One of the others was torn and the forth look like it had seen much better days. "These are all that I could find on those six. And it's not even all of them. There isn't anything too helpful in them either. The two files that are missing belong to Ember and Trace. Hunter's file has been ripped in half, the only things left on it are his name, age, height, and attendance record. Sierra's is almost in pristine condition, except her family information has been scribbled out with a very black marker, so it's impossible to read. Her legible information just has what Hunter's has, then there was also her weapon's name, and her mission statistics." Black Star looked up excited. That was something that none of them knew, and if they had one of their statistics, it could hint to what the other's were. Black Star didn't want to yell and make Tsubaki scold him, so he tried to stay calm.

"Well what are they?" They all looked to Kidd expectantly.

"100%. It appears that she's never failed a single mission." He looked at the comments more closely. "Hmm, Stein must have been her overseer at some point because he's made some comments:_ 'Carries out missions with precision.' 'Perfectionist.' 'Calculates every possible move and it's reaction before acting, but never takes more than 3 seconds to act.'._"

"A one hundred percent mission rate? And a reaction time that fast? Even the Spartoi aren't that skilled..." Kidd cleared his throat, signaling he had more to say.

"Lance's file is similar to Sierra's only his family information hasn't been crossed out. He comes from a family with a lot of money, he is an only child, his relationship with his mother is almost nonexistent, his father and him were close until he left, he has 6 cousins whom he does not associate with, and he hates his mother's sister. His mission statistics are basically the same as Sierra's just no comments from his overseer."

"Hm, wonder if our families know each other." Liz smirked at Soul's comment.

"Right, he's a rich boy just like you. You guys have so much in common!" Everyone found that pretty funny. Soul had walked away from the wealth and his family to be a weapon, something his father found abominable, and from what it sounded like, Lance might have done the same thing. Only in his case, it was his mother that hated him.

"What about Kiara's file?" Everyone looked to Maka. Of course she'd be the one to want to get to Kiara. After the meeting she had had with her, Maka wanted to know what that girl's problem was.

"Well... It's here, but it's beyond useless. Everything is scribbled on, crossed out, there appear to be burns on it, and anything that had been attached to it has been ripped off and taken. Someone went to some great lengths to make this file illegible. And before anyone says it, I don't think that it was Kiara. And I don't think that anyone from that group vandalized these files or took the two that are completely missing." Chrona brought up a thought that nobody had even considered before.

"Kidd, do you think that, m-maybe these people have any enemies that could have done it? Even if it's just one of them?"

"I hope not. That would make this entire situation a lot more dangerous and complicated that it already is." That topic of discussion seemed to end with Kidd's last statement. But before anyone got ready to leave, Liz wanted to help them out with there nonexistent packing.

"Hey, before you guys go, listen up! We're gonna be taking three flights. One will take us to New York and then about an hour after that flight lands, we'll be getting on another flight that will take us to Moscow. As soon as we get off that flight, we'll be boarding a small cargo plane that will take us directly to our destination. It's gonna be a lot of flying time, so no complaining. The lodge we're staying at has a laundry room, so don't go overboard with packing. We can wash anything whenever we need too. Make sure to pack mostly warm clothing. If your forget anything it's okay, this town has shops that mostly sell clothing and food. A few sell hunting materials and there's one hospital that also sells medicine for colds and stuff. There are fire places in every room, and they all come with a ton of warm blankets. They serve us breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. Also, just so no one is shocked or disappointed, they have a strict rule of one person per room. They lock us into the lodge at 8, and into our designated rooms at exactly 11 o'clock, and the generator that the lodge and the entire town runs on turns off at 12 so that it can conserve energy. If you get up early you can call the desk and they'll send someone to unlock your door, otherwise nothing happens untill 9 am." Everyone looked at Liz, quite impressed with her knowledge.

"Looks like someone did her homework." Liz smiled proudly.

"Heh yupp! I figured at least one of us should seem informed." Kidd then turned all attention back to him.

"Now, we all leave tomorrow. And after thinking about it for a bit, I think that we should arrive at the Mirror Room sooner than my father asked." Patti looked at her miester.

"Awwwe, why Kidd?"

"So that we can ask him about these people. I don't like that they know everything about us, and that we know almost nothing about them. And having that information on Sierra and Lance isn't helpful, because I think that they would have willingly told us. Well at least Sierra probably would have."

Everyone agreed with Kidd's plan, although Tsubaki knew that it would take a miracle to get Black Star up as early as he'd need to. Seeings how they needed to pack and get up at 5 am, everyone left shortly after. Kidd looked to Liz.

"How much more do you need to pack?"

"Well I have everything all packed for Patti, and I finished packing all of your things before everyone got her. I just have to pack for myself and then I'll be all done."

"I thought that I told you not to pack for me and that I'd do it myself? Liz, I know you. You'll be up all night trying to make sure everything you pack will be necessary and used, and not just something that will take up space. And stop picking up Patti's mess. I'll get it later." Liz looked up at him.

"And guess what would have happened if I left you to pack for yourself. You wouldn't have. And then at the last second you'd be freaking out about it and grab random winter clothes, and then you'd get there and realize something was missing or you didn't need something you brought, and then we'd be spending all our money on the right clothes for you. Now you can get a good nights rest. And I already have my things picked out in my head, so it'll take me like 10 minutes to put it all in my suitcase. And no, I'm almost done with all this. Just go eat dinner, it's in the fridge so you'll have to heat it up. Put the soup in the microwave for 1 minute, and then the grilled cheese in for 45 or 30 seconds. That should make it warm but not too hot or anything. After that go to sleep, okay?" He would have protested, but he didn't. Liz obviously had everything planned out in her head and him going against it would just make her stress. It wasn't something that most would guess, but Liz was actually very keen on details and always had things planned to some extent. Kidd assumed it came with all of those years of having to keep her and Patti out of trouble and alive on the streets, seeing how their parents didn't do shit.

"Alright. But try and get to bed soon." She smiled at him.

"I will, don't worry. Oh, when you get upstairs, can you make sure that Patti is in bed?"

"Hm, yeah, I will."

"Thanks Kidd."

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><p><strong>With Black Star and Tsubaki<strong>

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><p>It had been two hours since Tsubaki and Black Stat had gotten home. Tsubaki had just finished packing all of the things that they'd need for the trip. She had come downstairs to get a glass of water, and found her miester training. Still.<p>

"Black Star, you've trained enough! Please just shower and go to bed?"

"But Tsubaki, I'm almost done!" And he was. Black Star was almost done with his first round of exercises. And he had announced once him and Tsubaki were home that he was going to be doing 20 rounds.

"No you aren't! At the rate you're pushing yourself you'll be more exhausted than anything!"

"A Go-"

"No! Don't even start that whole God thing with me! We both know that you have your limits, and you are past yours! You need sleep. And you need sleep right now. Please Black Star..." She was expecting him to start yelling back, to go on about needing to train more, to, at the very least, say how he didn't have limits. But he never did. When Tsubaki looked at Black Star, she was actually surprised. He was sitting up and looking at her, no annoyance or anger in his gaze. He was smiling at her.

"Geesh Tsubaki.. You don't need to shout." He stood up and started walking towards her.

"I'm sorry.. I just hate when you get into these moods where you only train. You wear yourself down and even though it's not apparent, I know that it effects your ability in battles. And I know you don't want to seem like a push over to these people..." She felt his hand rest on her shoulder. Instinctively, Tsubaki moved her hand to his.

"Alright Tsubaki. You win. I'll call it a night. But you really gotta stop worrying all the time! I read somewhere that worrying is unhealthy." Black Star's statement made her laugh.

"Since when do you read?" He would have argued with her, but he couldn't think of any witty comebacks at that point, so he just laughed. Tsubaki smiled and proceeded to hug her miester goodnight, and the two wordlessly retreated to their bedrooms for the night.

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><p><strong>With Maka and Soul<strong>

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><p>"Are you totally sure your completely packed Soul?" Soul grumbled. He had spent the past two and a half hours making sure he actually packed the right things and it was the 10th time that Maka brought it upon herself to ask him.<p>

"Yes Maka. I'm sure that I have everything that I'll need packed. Will you stop asking me already?"

"I'm just checking! You half ass almost everything else, and last time you packed for yourself and I didn't check you had almost nothing useful with you! This mission is in Russia, we don't know how long we'll be gone, and it's gonna be way too cold to not have everything we'll need."

"If you wanna make sure that I have everything packed why don't you check for yourself? Or better yet, why don't you just fucking pack for me? Cause apparently I'm incapable of doing anything up to your damn standards!" Soul had been in the kitchen when Maka had started asking about his packing, and by this point he was making his way to his bedroom. Maka had been in their family room watching TV. Although she wasn't really watching it anymore. She was now standing at the end of the hall having a stare down with Soul.

"Why don't you just stop being such an ass all the time?"

"Maybe if you were a strung up bitch every day I wouldn't have to be!" With that he slammed his door shut. Maka cringed at how loud it was. She was about to head back to the couch when a sharp pain traveled through her leg. Maka let out a soft whine before pathetically limping to the kitchen to take some of the pain killers that Medusa had given her. She might have had the past 4 days to heal up, but recovering from two different fights would take a lot longer. She still had some bruises from the Kishin eggs and drunken asshole that had jumped her and her fight with Kiara had given her a bunch of new found injuries. The same leg that was hit by the pipe had been broken, two of her ribs had been cracked, one broken, she got a concussion, and her right wrist was broken. Medusa had used some spell that healed her, but she would still feel the same pain for up to two weeks. Maka had downed a few of the pills that she had been given and went back to the couch. She looked to the windowsill where Blair would usually be.

"I wish I could just turn into a cat and disappear for a few hours... What the hell is Soul's problem? He's hardly ever like this." She turned the TV off and just sat in the dark for a few minutes, her mind wandering all over the place. "Am I really that awful all the time?" She didn't know why, but finally saying that out loud hurt. She felt her eyes start to water. "Am..am I that bad as a miester?" She didn't sob or anything, she just sat there and let the tears fall. After a few minutes she headed back to the kitchen and went to the medicine cabinet._ 'Where are they?'_ She moved some of the medicines and painkillers and nasal sprays to the side and found what she was looking for._ 'There we go!'_ She took two pills from the bottle and got a glass of water. She drank it all and then headed towards her bedroom. Within minutes she felt herself drifting to sleep. "Sleeping pills never fail."

**(What Soul was doing while Maka was taking pills.)**

Soul was laying on his bed, staring at his ceiling.

"What the hell is wrong with me? Why'd I just snap like that? Fuuck. Maka's gonna let me have it tomorrow morning, that's for sure." He was quiet for a while and then he heard the TV go silent, but the familiar sound of the couch squeaking with the loss of weight on it never came. 'Why is she still up? We have to be at the DWMA even earlier than planned.' He saw a small light shine under his door. He knew it was from the kitchen. Within a few seconds it was off and he heard Maka's footsteps coming closer, a door open and then close, and then silence.

* * *

><p><strong>With Ember, Sierra, Lance, and Hunter<strong>

* * *

><p>Ember was trying to walk as silently as she could through Sierra and Lance's hotel suite to get to hers'. She was doing some last minute packing and needed some of Sierra's extra eyeliner, seeing as hers' had run out. Her two friends were asleep, but she knew Sierra was a really light sleeper, and Ember didn't want her to see her in the middle of stealing her stuff. '<em>If she'd just let me borrow her shit, this wouldn't be an issue...<em>' Ember swiftly moved through the room and entered her own through the door that was between them. It all went great until she stepped on an empty bottle of liquor, efficiently causing it to break into pieces under her barefoot.

"Dammit Hunter!" Ember whisper shouted. She looked to the bed by the window to see her weapon passed out on it with another bottle of liquor over half empty in his hand. "I thought I found all of those before he came to the roo- Shit. He raided Lance's mini fridge. Of course." She sat on her bed and pulled out the glass that managed to get into her foot, and then went to cleaning up the broken bottle and small puddle of blood. After that she crept over to Hunter and worked the bottle out of his hand. Glaring at it, she walked to the suite's bathroom. "Goodbye evil substance. Have fun going down the drain." Ember disposed of the drink and went back to the bed area. "I'm so kicking your ass tomorrow you royal douche. I don't care how hungover you are." Before she forgot, she picked up the stolen eye liner and put it in her suitcase. She heard the door across the hall open and close and looked at the clock. It was way later than she realized. "Good thing we're basically living on planes tomorrow. Heh, guess a nap would be a nice idea though.." With one last once over of her suitcase, Ember plopped down on her bed and drifted into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

><p><strong>With Trace<strong>

* * *

><p>He didn't know where he was walking too, but it didn't exactly matter to him. Trace had been roaming Death City throughout the 4 days and had come to a conclusion; He didn't miss it. At all. There was nothing wrong with it or anything, but he just wasn't fond of it. Most of its inhabitants were the students of the DWMA, and they seemed to think they were the absolute shit. Some guys had tried to be tough and challenged him to a fight, and Trace had been followed around by a small group of girls, asking him if he was single and if he'd teach them some cool moves. One had begged him to turn into a weapon because she 'just knew' that she'd be able to wield him. He scoffed at the memory.<em> 'I've only met one person who can actually wield me. And I'm not about to give some weak sluts the chance to try.'<em> Personally Trace couldn't wait to go on this new mission. He had some pent up anger to let out, and he was kind of curious as to why Lord Death had spoken so highly of Soul and his friends. They didn't seem all that tough or special to him, although he knew he couldn't say that with total assurance._'The two that Kiara fought weren't extraordinary or anything, but they did somewhat hold their own..'_ He looked up to the moon. From its current position he could tell that it was getting closer to sunrise. Trace let out a long sigh and took a turn that would lead him back to the hotel.

"Why are you wandering around at this hour?" Trace stopped. He knew that voice all too well.

"Just thinking." He heard the person land on the ground, telling him that they'd been on a rooftop.

"About what?"

"Nothing. So where did you run off too these past few days?"

"Places..." Their voice was closer than before, and so Trace turned towards it. He was met with the sight of his miester. He just watched her as she approached him, her eyes fixed back on him. She stopped a foot in front of him. He felt something lingering on her and his eyes and expression softened.

"How is she?"

"Alright. Her wounds are finally healed and her strength is back. She looked better than when we last saw her, that's for sure." Trace nodded.

"Does she understand how lucky she was?"

"I think that she's starting too. But she's still young. She's got a lot to learn before she'll hold a candle to them. Who by the way say 'hi'."

"We should head back. You need some kind of rest before we leave, and I'd rather not have to play 20 questions with Sierra about where we were." Kiara nodded and pair headed off towards the hotel.

* * *

><p>Okay.. yeah. I'm not sure how I felt about this chapter. But I guess you all get to be the judges! Now to whoever else wants to know, here are the bands that inspired my characters and which mix of songs I think would give you all the best mental image of them(:<p>

**Ember**- _We Are The InCrowd_ (Never Be What You Want, Both Sides of the Story, Rumor Mill, On Your Own, Kiss Me Again.)

**Sierra**- _Kelly Clarkson_ (Judas, Haunted, My Life Would Suck Without You, Long Shot, Stronger, Dark Side, Don't You Wanna Stay)

**Lance**- _All Time Low_ (Remembering Sunday, Damned If I Do Ya, Break Your Little Heart, Guts, Time Bomb, Day Dream Away)

**Hunter**- _Hinder_ (Get Stoned, I Don't Wanna Know, Shoulda, Use Me, Loaded and Alone, One Last Kiss Goodbye, Up All Night, Heaven Sent, Thing For You. he's a deep guy...)

**Trace**- _Three Days Grace_ (Just Like You, I Hate Everything About You, Home, Pain, Not Too Late, Over and Over, Animal I Have Become, Time Of Dying, One X, Break, Lost In You, Goin' Down. basically every song they've ever made... yeah) (I Don't Care. By Apoctalyptica ft Adam Gontier)

**Kiara**- _Paramore_ (Misery Business, CrushCrushCrush, When It Rains, We Are Broken, Careful, Ignorance, Brick By Boring Brick, Only Exception, Misguided Ghosts, All I Wanted, Monster, Renegade, In The Mourning) _**ALSO**__, Christina Perri_ (Jar of Hearts and Arms)

Okay, i think that that's all for now! till next time.

Mwaah


	6. Spill It

Why hello. Okay, not much has changed since ten minutes ago. maybe I'll have more news in chapter 7? (which i'm still writing)

okay.. read away! [soul eater is still not mine]

* * *

><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 6**

* * *

><p>"<strong>MAKA!<strong> Come on, we need to be at the DWMA in like 20 minutes!" Soul had been calling Maka for an hour. He'd actually woken up on time and was completely ready, and Maka had yet to make an appearance. His stomach grumbled so Soul made his way to the kitchen to grab a quick bite. He went to the fridge and picked out the left over chinese food. He put it in the microwave and waited for it to be ready. While waiting, Soul called Maka again. "**MAKA!** Wake up!" He was starting to get frustrated._ 'She never oversleeps. How late was she up last night?'_ The microwave beeped, signaling that it was done. He grabbed his food and woofed it down in seconds. "Hmmm, Chinese food. That hit the spot." He put his dishes in the sink and was about to leave the kitchen when something caught his eye. He walked over to the counter and saw Maka's medicine sitting out still. He started putting them away when the last bottle made him stop. "Sleeping pills...?" He just stared at the bottle for a bit when it hit him. **"SHIT!"** He dropped the bottle and ran to Maka's room, pushing the door open. Soul saw her in her bed, seemingly sound asleep. He went over to her and started shaking her awake. "Maka.** MAKA**. Get up! Maka, wake up. Come onn, get up!" He kept shaking her until he heard a soft whimper. "Maka... hey, time to open your eyes." It took a few tries, but Maka finally got her eyes opened. Her head was throbbing, everything was spinning, and she had never felt closer to throwing up before in her life.

"Whaa.. Uhhgh, Soul? What's wrong?" She was completely out of it. Soul helped her sit up.

"Maka, what the hell?" She looked at him.

"What?"

"You idiot! Why would you take sleeping pills? Medusa and Nygius even said 'Do not take sleeping pills.' They're basically poison because of the other medicines you're taking! You could actually kill yourself mixing them all Maka..." He looked at her in a way she wasn't used too. She now felt beyond guilty along with everything else. Maka had completely forgotten about that danger last night. She just wanted to be able to sleep.

"I'm.. I'm really sorry. I just, couldn't fall asleep last night and I knew I'd need the rest.. I was just tired and upset and I wasn't thinking."

"Well, you seem alive, so I guess it's not too bad. You feel okay?" Maka grumbled.

"Ugh, not at all. Thankfully we're just traveling all day, so I can just sleep on the planes." He helped her get up and steady before backing off a little. "Can you get ready by yourself?"

"I think I'll be able to manage. Can you take my suitcase to the front door though? I'll be out in a few minutes." Soul nodded and grabbed her suitcase.

"I'll load up our stuff on my bike. Just come down when your ready, and try to be quick, alright?" Maka nodded and Soul was gone. She went to her closet and pulled out the outfit she had planned for the day. It was what almost everyone else would be wearing: jeans, a long sleeve shirt that she borrowed from Soul, her usual boots, and then a bag that had a winter coat, scarf, gloves, and a hat, along with a few books to read on the planes. She got dressed and headed down to where Soul was waiting with the motorcycle and their stuff. He was sitting on it and had his headphones in. She stepped in front of him and he looked up.

"I'm all set." Soul put his music away and locked up there bags with everything else. He looked at Maka before they took off.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about how I acted last night.. I didn't mean what I said. You really aren't a strung up bitch." Maka smiled softly.

"But I know that I can be...and I know that that's why you get all defensive. I truly am sorry about that Soul." He flashed her his famous half smile.

"Eh, I'd say it's how we deal with each other. We know we don't mean it. We just say it anyways.." His smile faded, "But.. I don't know... These outbursts are more and more common between us. And I don't like it Maka..." She put her hand on his chest.

"Me either.. How about we try not to have a pissing match for this whole mission. Deal?" Soul nodded.

"Deal. Unless it's one of those unavoidable ones. Cause those are, well..."

"Unavoidable?" Maka finished for him with a giggle. He smirked at her and then turned around. She took the hint and wrapped her arms around his toned stomach and they drove off towards the school.

* * *

><p><strong>At the DWMA<strong>

* * *

><p>Lord Death looked at 8 students in front of him.<p>

"Look kiddos, I know you're all eager to get this mission over with, but you don't need to be here for another two hours... Your new companions aren't even awake yet.." Kidd stepped forward.

"We need some information from you, father. And this is the only time we can ask." Death cocked his head to the side.

"Oh sure, ask away!"

"We need you to tell us exactly who we're teaming up with. I know there are no useful files on them, but they all attended the school, so you'd have to know their abilities and stories. And don't say you don't remember. You speak too highly of them to not." Stein and Spirit exchanged glances and then looked to Lord Death. He sighed and nodded his masked face.

"Fair enough. I did give them your files, so this is as equal as it's going to get.. Alright, get comfy kids." They all awkwardly sat in a circle, looking expectingly to Death. "Alrighty, we'll start with Lance. You know his age and his hometown and his miester. His weapon form is, much like Liz and Patti's, a gun. Only he has the unique ability to transform into a wide range of guns, such as a pistol, machine gun, AK47, hunting rifle, and so on. And no, a bazooka is not one of them." Black Star's hand immediately went back to his side. "Anyways, he comes from a lot of money, like you Soul, and is an only child. His exact reasons for leaving that life are still cloudy, although when he first started attending this school he oftened received and sent letters to his father, but over time it stopped. His mother and him don't see eye to eye at all and never have from what he's told me. Sierra and him have been partners since their first day here. Of his companions he is actually the least independent one. He can hold his own in a miester-less fight, although because he is a gun, he has to resort to hand to hand combat. He prefers to be with Sierra more often than not. He may seem a little rude, but he's one of the easiest people to befriend." Lord Death looked to Stein and Spirit. "Anything you two would like to add?" Stein shrugged.

"Just be aware that Lance can play people well. Of the six of them, he's the best at it and can talk his way out of any situation. So keep track of how conversations go with him, you may find yourself sharing more than you wanted too and agreeing with his ideas even if you were originally opposed. Spirit and I have shared quite a few things that we weren't originally supposed to with him." They all made a mental note of that.

"Nooww, I suppose I'll cover Sierra and a portion of Hunter's backgrounds. As you most likely guessed, they are related. Hunter is Sierra's older brother. Although you all may have also noted, they live in different cities. Now, you'll be able to identify with this Maka. When they were younger their parents had an extremely messy divorce. Neither had cheated or anything, there just was never any love between them. They split Sierra and Hunter up like furniture, their father taking Sierra and their mother taking Hunter, and the two were separated without any say in it. They came through the DWMA at the same time, becoming much closer because of it. Sierra had a uncanny talent with seduction, something not seen in a girl her age. As I said, Lance and her became partners their first day, much to many other male weapons' dismay. They were unusually close and although many suspected their to be a romantic relationship, that was not the case at first. Their closeness was quick to appear because of their underlying lonely upbringings, and it was the foundation of one of the most solid, pure, and loving partnerships that I've ever seen. Now, don't think that Sierra is helpless without Lance, because it'll most likely cost you a finger or more. She is always armed with an assassins knife, a conjoined gift from Lance and Hunter, that she keeps sharp and clean, and on her person at all times. Of her group, she's the mother figure. And she'll probably be the first that any of you consider a friend." Liz looked curiously to her superior.

"Okay, what do you mean with the whole_ 'Everyone thought they liked each other at the time but that wasn't really the case at that time'_ thing?" Stein answered her question.

"What he means is that at first we all thought her and Lance were a couple, but at the time we were incorrect. But after a few months that changed." From the blank stares he knew that no one was following him. "They weren't dating. And then they started dating. Understand?" Spirit Elaborated for them.

"You guys see, Sierra had been dating one of the older miesters at the school for a while. He didn't like that she had a male weapon, especially because of how close they were and because he knew Lance had strong feelings for his miester. Sierra insisted that it really wasn't a huge deal, and Lance truly wasn't going to get between the couple, but the guy was just too paranoid so Sierra ended it. After waiting a few months, Lance asked her to be his girlfriend and they've been dating ever since." A unison of 'awwwwe's was heard from the four females. Soul quirked an eyebrow at the older scythe.

"And why do you know all that?" Lord Death interrupted.

"Everyone who was here at the time knew that..." After a few silent moments, he continued with Hunter's information. "Now, Hunter is the amongst the oldest in their group. He did not have a partner while attending the DWMA, but he most certainly did not need one. His weapon form is a long sword. He's surprisingly diligent in his work and doesn't make mistakes in fights. Now, there's really not much more to say about that, so I'll explain his personality, because it's not the one he's been showing you all. You're all probably very approving of him because he saved Maka's life. But honestly I'm surprised that he did. Hunter is, well, not one to get in other people's business, and prefers to let others deal with their own problems unless he absolutely feels obligated to assist them. Truthfully I think that he thought you were unconscious, Maka, and that's why he intervened. Not that you should be any less thankful. He is also very wary around those he doesn't know and trust, although he may seem the opposite of that. And do be warned: he may seem almost easy going, but he's actually quite hostile. And by that I mean that he resorts to physical force first. He's also known to use people for his own gain, and knows exactly how to sweet talk them. And be warned, he** DOES** have a reputation of being a 'man-whore'. I'd be willing to compare him to Spirit with the way he flirts and sleeps around with women, although the difference would be Spirit tries to hide it and feels guilty afterwards, and Hunter is the exact opposite. While he was here, he slept with most of the older girls and quite a few of the ones in his own age group and openly bragged about it. Except no one could really hate him for it, because he did make it crystal clear to each and every girl that he had no intentions of calling them or being an item, or even talking to them again. But throughout his time here, he never approached the younger girls.. I recall him saying something about _'them taking it to mean more than it does and being too naive'_. So the four of you girls shouldn't have to worry about him hitting on you." Spirit was pouting from Lord Death's comment and Maka, along with her friends, looked quite surprised at this new found information regarding Hunter.

"But he seemed genuinely nice and like a good guy when he saved me..."

"Now now, I'm not saying that he's a bad person, because he isn't. His soul is quite pure in fact, and he never once disobeyed orders from superiors, nor broke any rules whatsoever. The only reason he's the way he is is because of how his childhood was. His parents always fought and when angry enough, they'd try to physically and emotionally harm him. He built up a wall and blocked everyone out because of them. But don't push him away because of this information. Break through that wall, and you'll see what his sister sees. He truly is a fantastic person to call a friend, and he's remarkably loyal and trustworthy. Definitely someone you'd want on your side."

"H-how hostile is he? Will he attack us?"

"Oh no, probably not. He's only hostile when he needs to be. And I strictly told him to keep a level head around all of you." Well that's nice. Maka suddenly didn't feel so comforted by the thought of her knight in shining armor. Though he hadn't done any harm to her or her friends, she didn't like that he sounded like her pig of a father._ 'Even if he did give those girls fair warning...it's just not okay.. But maybe he's changed? He didn't seem like any of this when he formally met him..'_ Tsubaki wasn't enjoying this news either. She didn't like hearing that the guy who saved one of her best friends had a talent of using people. Looks were exchanged and Lord Death continued on.

"Okay, now here's some bad news. I have no idea what to tell you all about Ember.."

"How about her past and fighting style and stuff like that?" Lord Death sweat dropped.

"Well you see... I actually don't know. She never attended the DWMA. I only learned her name and that she was now Hunter's partner a few minutes before I introduced her to the student body and faculty. I've never seem her fight, nor have I had any kind of tell all conversation with her. Sierra seems fond of her, Hunter apparently sees her as a capable and acceptable miester... That's really it. Hmmm, I guess I should have examined her soul... Oh well, I'm sure you all will figure it out!" Kidd just shook his head. But he couldn't really be upset with his father. He'd been extremely helpful thus far, so he didn't see a reason to complain now. Liz sighed.

"Well, I'd she seems pretty cool. Her music taste is pretty sick, and she sounded like she had a nice taste in clothes." Maka smiled.

"Ha I guess if Liz approves then there's nothing to worry about!" They felt a little better knowing that one of them actually was paying mind to those things and had a good feeling about one of their mystery companions. Even if it was because of her clothing style.

"**ALRIGHT!** Time to get to the important stuff! Tell us everything you know about that Trace guy!" Patti excitedly agreed with Black Star, mainly because of how loud he became. Chrona felt a little uncomfortable, but not because of Patti and Black Star's loudness. He and Kidd felt Lord Death tense. It wasn't until Stein and Spirit became uneasy that everyone else notice.

"Hmmm. Where to begin with that one..." The silence was heavy. "I don't think it'll make much of a difference to tell you what his fighting style is, because he doesn't really have a set one. His personality is difficult to explain. He seems to be cold and closed off, but it goes deeper than that. Trace really has no personality. He doesn't understand feelings and doesn't know when he feels one. So don't be too put off or judgmental if in the future he asks you about a feeling you mentioned or anything like that. Now, I want you all to be fully aware that Trace's past was not good." Silence. "Trace Guarinot... Is not someone to be taken lightly. He's not evil, but he's done quite a bit that truly is unforgivable. And I know that now you're looking for me to tell you about his home life and what he's done that's so bad, but I'm not going to. Just as I'm not going to tell you about Kiara's past either." Everyone stared dumbfounded at him.

"WHAT?! Why not?! You told us about the others so willingly! Why not them?!"

"Well you see, Trace and Kiara have both asked me not to. They want all of you to come to them and ask. And I think they're on to something. I know none of you will just ask two people you don't trust or like about their pasts, and so this will force you all to really get to know them."

"I should have known you were being too forthcoming with information. Father, is there anything you can tell us at all?"

"Just be aware that they've been through a lot, far more than any of you could imagine, and that because of that their view of the world, people, and how it all works is very cynical. It'll take time and effort, but I know that at some point you eight will be able to gain their trust." They didn't bother trying to persue any more information. Lord Death wasn't budging, and he seemed confidant that they'd learn what they wanted to in time. Maka decided to go a different route and ask about something that had been bugging her for the last day.

"Okay, I need to ask this, and I really need an answer. Why couldn't I see through their soul protects? I can usually break through them.. Why is it so different with these two?"

"Well dear, it's because Kiara doesn't want you to get through it. Same as Trace. They're private people, and have made their soul protects impossible to get through. Actually all six of them have, but only Kiara and Trace can keep their up for indefinite amounts of time. You kids wanna see their souls? You'll have to really gain their trust. Simple as that." Well damn. Though Maka halfa expected that answer, she still didn't like it. Her thoughts went into overdrive on what Kiara and Trace could be hiding, but she was pulled from them when the door to the Mirror Room opened. Lance and Hunter were the first two to enter. Hunter looked like absolute hell, and that was just when one ignored the still noticeable bruise on his left cheek. He had bags under his eyes and looked like he was suffering from a terrible headache. Sierra came in after them, looking perfect, and was followed by Ember. She had her headphones in and didn't look very happy. A few minutes later Trace and Kiara joined them all. Lord Death cleared his throat.

"Good morning sleepy heads! Now, I hope you're all rested, because today you leave for your mission. It will be a calmer day seeing as how you'll all only be riding planes and then arriving at the lodge. Now, I've given Kiara the information that you'll all need to be informed of, so I'd recommend doing that once you're at the lodge. You'd all best hurry to the airport! Your flight leaves in one hour." They all nodded and made their exit. Stein and Spirit turned towards Lord Death.

"You know that this isn't going to end well, right?" Death sighed and turned towards his mirror.

"I'm well aware of that.. I just hope they don't kill each other."

* * *

><p>Eh.. yea. I think I explained things too soon.. oh well, can't undo it now :P <strong>(THAT'S FUNNY, CAUSE I DID CHANGE AND UNDO STUFF. LOL)<strong>

Now i believe someone was telling me in a review that Maka can actually see through Soul Protect? weeeelllll, i didn't see that till after i put this... and as easy as it was to change, i just didn't. i cant be giving everything away super soon, now can i?(; hahahaha alright, that's all!

btw, i actually did not, in anyway spell check this... awk sauce! i promise i'm not gonna be this lazy the rest of the story! it's the concussion, i swear! **(Just spell checked. I'm done being stoopid.)**

until next time. duces

**(8/9)Edit: I took out everything I revealed about Trace. It was too much intensness too fast and his and Kiara's pasts are both bad, and it didn't make sense to just tell his now and not hers. So they'll both be revealedain't later chapters! **


	7. A Day Of Travel

After months of me stalling, I finally have some updates! Go me!  
>Okay, I guess i should give you all some kind of reson for my lack of updates...well, I wanted to have a lot to give you when I did update again, so I'll give you this chapter and two more throughout today!(: Only the other two are kind of short... But oh well. Also, I've been hard at work with re-writing my Naruto story 'Shadows Are Forever'. It was orginally called 'Broken Promises' or something like that, but I hated how it was going. The new version is not up yet though. I was also just too lazy to go on my laptop..iPads all the way!<p>

Righto. So I don't know what else to say here...do enjoy this chapter! Sorry if things are off in it or rushed. Just be aware; when events are happening and it all seems super fast, it's actually like, not that fast... I don't know how to word that any better hahaha.

**ON WITH THE STORY! (**Soul Eater is not mine**)**

* * *

><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 7**

* * *

><p>It took everyone around 20 minutes to get to the airport and find suitable parking, and then all meet back up with each other. Liz, Tsubaki, Maka, and Patti become envious of how Lance, Hunter and Trace carried their partner's luggages for them. Lance and Trace had both done so without even being asked, while Hunter had at first refused to carry Ember's because she had punched him earlier (you know, for the broken bottle she stepped on.), but then ended up taking it for her anyway. They went through security with minimal issues and then went to their gate to wait for the plane to arrive. Ember sprawled herself out on four seats and dozed off. Small conversation started between Liz, Tsubaki, and Sierra, while Maka chatted with Chrona, and Patti napped on her sister's shoulder. Lance, Soul, Hunter, Black Star and Kidd were discussing random things, although Hunter was also spending some time checking out hot girls that walked by. Sierra looked at Patti, a warm smile on her face.<p>

"You two are really close, aren't you?" Liz nodded in response.

"Yeah.. We were all the other really had growing up. I don't know how I would have managed without her there." Liz looked at Lance whom was sitting next to Sierra. "So I need to know, how the hell did you train that one so well? I've never seen a guy treat a girl nearly as great!" Tsubaki looked at her friend.

"Doesn't that seem a little rude to just ask like that, Liz?" Sierra just laughed at Liz's question.

"Oh, don't worry, I'd wanna know too. And it's really not that hard! You just have to have the right balance of being demanding about what you want, but also making it known that he actually has a choice. When he knows it's not expected but something you'd like, he's more likely to oblige. And being a little suggestive about his reward never hurt anyone." She said with a wink. Tsubaki's face flashed red and Liz just died of laughter.

"You mean, you.." Sierra flashed a brilliant smile.

"Mhhmm. The promise of sex works every time."

"Hell yeah it does." Liz and Tsubaki looked to Lance, who had suddenly invaded in their conversation. He lifted his arm so that it was around Sierra. "But it doesn't mean it's the only thing. Asking nicely has yet to fail Sierra either. But it helps if we actually know what you want us to do. We aren't, and never will be mind readers." The two laughed and then continued talking to the couple. Maka, Chrona and the others were actually having a nice time of just talking ywhen they heard a loud grumbling noise. They all looked to Hunter.

"Fuck, I'm starving."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have slept in and missed breakfast." Hunter looked over to his sister.

"Uh, I wasn't sleeping. Ember went ape shit on me for no apparent reason." Lance rolled his eyes.

"I have a feeling that she had a valid reason for it." Hunter glared and then stood up.

"Well, we still have like 20 more minutes before this hunk of metal lands, so I'm gonna grab a bite to eat." Soul and Black Star seemed to realize how hungry they were, cause they got up too.

"I think I'm gonna need some food too." Soul looked to Maka.

"You want anything? I know you didn't get a chance to eat before we left." She just shrugged.

"Maybe just a breakfast burrito or something?" He nodded. Surprisingly enough, Black Star actually asked Tsubaki if she wanted anything, to which she politely declined. Soul looked to Kidd and then Chrona.

"You guys wanna come?" Chrona nodded his head yes and got up. Kidd did too.

"I suppose I could get a small meal for the ride. Plane food is entirely too expensive for how bad it is. Liz, did Patti eat?" Said Thompson looked up.

"She did, but could you maybe get her a little bag of animal crackers? She loves those and I want her to have something to eat so she doesn't get all whiny."

"Will do." Hunter looked to Lance.

"I'm gonna take it that you ate with her?"

"Yeah. But I'll probably get a sandwich on the plane."

"Alright. Hey, Trace." Said male looked over to his friend. "You wanna come grab a bite with us?" Trace was silent for a second before getting up.

"I might as well. I could use some food, and I know you're sure as hell not gonna make sure that you're all back here on time." He looked down to Kiara. "Anything in particular you want?" She shook her head.

"Not at all." The seven males headed off in the direction of the food court that the airport had. Sierra looked down the empty row of seat until she landed on Kiara.

"Hey, Miss Anti-Social. Why don't you come join us?" She looked over to Sierra and sighed.

"I think I'll pass.." Sierra was about to respond but Kiara stood up and started walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"For a walk."

"Just be back soon." Kiara waved her off.

"Yeah yeah, I got it." She put her hands in her pockets and headed off in some random direction. Tsubaki watched her leave before turning back to Sierra.

"Is she gonna be like that the entire time?"

"Eh, hard to say.. Kiara is hard to read. And even harder to get to know. She doesn't open up to new people easily, and she's not a very trusting person. It took forever for all of us to get close to her.. You also need to learn how to deal with her attitude."

"Why is she so distant from anyone?" Sierra sighed and Lance pulled her a little closer to him.

"Okay, look, her past isn't something we like talking about..and I know that you guys have been hearing this a lot lately, but you really do need to at least attempt to get her to trust you and have her tell you the details herself. I honestly think that if maybe one of you can get through, that Kiara will slowly open up to all of you."

"But you guys can't just suddenly be all nice and kiss ass-y to her. Especially you two." Lance looked at Maka and Liz

"Wait, I get why Maka can't be suddenly nice, but why not me?"

"You called her a bitch and glared daggers at her the rest the times you saw her..." Liz turned a little red with embarrassment.

"Ohh..right." It was quiet for a few minutes until Sierra spoke again.

"So, how much about us all did Lord Death tell you guys?" Tsubaki looked slightly surprised.

"What makes you think he told us anything that involved you all?"

"Hey now, we aren't brainless. He had given us your files, and we knew you guys had realized that. It'd only be fair if he told you everything he could about us." She smiled lightly. "So what'd he say?" She actually seemed genuinely curious about it. Lance didn't say anything, but it was obvious he wanted to know too on some level. Maka figured that it wouldn't hurt to say anything, and that by telling them this, they'd have to say what they knew about her and her friends.

"Well, he had said how Lance's weapon form is a gun and that he can actually change to a wide range of them, how you had a special talent with seduction and always carry an assassins knife on your person, and how you two have been dating for awhile now. Some mission preformances were also given. Lord Death also mentioned how Ember had never actually attended the DWMA. Hunter's a womanizer, uses people, and is your brother and his weapon form is a long sword." She paused for a second before continuing. "He also said that he wasn't gonna tell us about Trace or Kiara."

"Sounds about right. Especially the part with him not telling you about those two." Lance nodded in agreement with his girlfriend. Maka did a slight subject change.

"Okay, so what do you all know about us?" Sierra sat up slightly.

"Let's see.. Well we know that your father is a Death Scythe, that he cheated on your mom and they divorced because of it, Soul is your weapon and transforms into a scythe aannd was infected with Black Blood. Liz and Patti are both pistols, Kidd is Death's son, Black Star's family and relatives are all dead, Tsubaki is a Demon Shadow weapon and her brother had become a Kishin egg, and that Chrona is Medusa's son and his weapon Ragnarok was formed from the Black Blood that flows through his vein, and that he used to be the bad guy but you guys made him good."

"Sounds right to me." Tsubaki and Maka agreed with Liz and the 5 continued to chat about random topics. Tsubaki did a time check and saw that they were set to board in 5 minutes.

"Where are the other guys? We leave in 5 minutes and they still aren't back..."

"Yeah we are!" She looked over and saw Black Star leading the way, a small to go box in his hand. Soul walked over and handed Maka her requested food. Kidd put three bags of animal crackers into Patti's bag and then handed Liz a bag that had a sandwich in it.

"But I'm not.."

"You will be later. Just take it." She smiled and did as told.

"Thank you, Kidd." She then started to wake Patti up. Hunter walked past Ember (who had been asleep the whole time) and dropped a medium sized bag onto her stomach.

"Ahh, the fuck?" She sat up and examined the bag. She looked accusingly at Hunter. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"You missed breakfast to yell at me.. I knew you'd get all bitchy without it so I got your favorite." Her purple irises lit up.

"Hehe, thanks! But wait, this place doesn't make its burgers and cheese fries till 12 noon... It's like 8 am. How did yo-"

"They had some leftover I guess." She seemed to buy that, but of course Trace outed his friend.

"No they didn't. That's why we were so late coming back. Hunter verbally abused the staff and made some threats till they made your cheeseburger and cheese fries. They threw in a free cookie just so that he wouldn't hurt them." Hunter's face turned bright red and he looked away. Ember smiled, happy that she was getting one of her favorite meals so early in the day.

"Thanks a fucking lot.. Ass." Trace smirked and Sierra looked at her big brother.

"Precious. Simply precious." He was about to say something when the attendants started calling everyone to board. Trace looked around.

"Have you guys seen Kiara?" They all shook their heads.

"She left a few minutes after you guys. She said she was going for a walk." Trace saw her luggage sitting on one of the empty seats.

"Why can't she just stay in one fucking place?" Ember came up beside him and put an arm awkwardly around his shoulders, pulling his face down next to hers.

"Ohh Tracey, you know our little Kiara! She goes where the wind takes her. Or in this case the air conditioning!" She had a goofy grin on her face and Trace scowled, getting out of the younger girl's grip and standing up straight. Sierra was scanning the airport when her eyes found Kiara, surrounded by a small group of guys. They were chatting her up and she looked beyond annoyed.

"Or maybe where the group of semi attractive guys are..." They all looked to where Sierra's eyes rested.

"Ooooo...they should take a hint and leave." Liz looked to Ember. The red head seemed to be enjoying the whole situation way too much. She looked to the eldest Thompson. Seeing her questioning look caused her to explain. "Kiara is really attractive, no one can deny that. But she really never hits on guys or gives them the time of day. They chase, she ignores them. But Trace," The girl pointed to her companion who was now on his way over to Kiara, "doesn't just let it go. He's really possessive. Like, no guy gets to touch **HIS** Kiara. Or look at her. It took him months to get used to her being around Lance and Hunter. These guys are basically dead.."

"Why is he so possessive? Are they dating or something?" She shook her head.

"Nope! But she's his and he's hers. Only she's less, uhhh, abrasive about it.." Hunter looked to her.

"Ooo look at you using big words." She glared up at him.

"Heey!" When the others turned their attention back to Kiara, they were surprised to see her and Trace already making their way back, the group of guys gone. Kiara was holding onto Trace's muscular arm and was smiling triumphantly. Both of Trace's hands were in his pockets and his expression seemed unamused. When they reached the rest of the group she let go of him and headed towards her things. At that moment the attendant called for any last minute boarders. They showed their tickets and headed to the plane. Trace and Kiara were first to enter and started putting their things in the empty first class overhead compartment.

"Um, our tickets are for coach you guys, not first class..." Kiara looked to Sierra.

"Noo, **YOUR** tickets are for coach. Ours are for first class." She scooted over to the window seat and Trace took the aisle seat. "See you in New York." The others were dumbfounded and about to freak when a very rude flight attendant started shooing them to coach.

"When did they upgrade? That's not even fair!" Hunter looked back to Liz.

"They do that all the time. I guarantee that they're first class for all our flights.." The coach attendants started showing them to their seats. Embed and Hunter were assigned the left most row of seats. Ember immediately called dibs on the window seat. Hunter let her have it without a fight and while she sat, he put their bags in the overhead. "Thank god we don't have some random person sitting with us..." In the middle row diagonally behind Hunter and Ember were Tsubaki, Sierra, and Maka and then behind them was Black Star, Kidd and Liz. Patti and Chrona sat in the right most row, Chrona taking the window seat, and two seats behind them was Soul and Lance. Sierra immediately saw a problem when the two female coach flight attendants seemed determined to only service Hunter.

"How predictable." The captain came on the loud speakers and started greeting the passengers and reminding them that it was a five hour flight, to remain seated during takeoff, that seat belts should stay on and that if anything was needed to ask the flight attendants. The plane started moving and after a few minutes of waiting went down the runway and took flight. After reaching the required altitude, the passengers were allowed to move about the cabin and the attendants started coming around offering drinks. The busty red headed one helped her male counterpart in taking orders while the blonde one headed straight to Hunter. She leaned down, intentionally giving him a view of her cleavage, and talked a little too close to his ear.

"My name is Dana. Is there anything I can do for you?" The underlying seductive tone in her voice was unmistakable, and Hunter saw that he could take full advantage of that.

"I would kill for some Scotch right about now.." Her face light up.

"Right away!" She was gone in an instant, and she hadn't checked his ID to see if he could actually legally drink. Ember raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"You're joking right? It's like 9 and you're already looking to get wasted?" He looked back at her.

"Not wasted, I just hate flying so much in one day. A little buzz makes it easier." She shook her head.

"You don't do _'buzzes'_ Hunter..." He put his hand on hers and smiled reassuringly at her.

"How about I promise only two drinks per plane? We both know that that's not gonna do shit to me."

"Deal. You try anymore than that and I get to bring home any guy I want to for the next 3 weeks." He hadn't really been planning on keeping the deal until Ember said that. Dana came back with his scotch.

"Here you gooo." She leaned down and set it on his tray, purposely making sure that her chest hit his shoulder. He smirked and looked at her. The two proceeded to flirt shamelessly. Ember had put her headphones in and was staring out the window, looking at nothing in particular. Liz had leaned forward and was talking to the three girls in front of her when she noticed the blonde woman had only helped Hunter.

"That's actually kind of pathetic..." The other girls agreed with her. After a few moments, the redhead came by and started talking to her friend.

"Dana, the guys in the back row have requested that you bring them their lunch.." Dana looked at her, disbelief written all over her face.

"Well, Molly, tell them I'm a bit busy."

"I did. They said they want to know all the attendants who are supposed to help them. If you don't they said they'll complain to the captain." Dana grumbled and headed back to the three elderly men in the back. Molly took her absence as her chance to gain Hunter's attention. She appeared to be an even better flirt than the other, but Hunter was suddenly uninterested. He was giving her short answers and making it apparent that he didn't care for her advances, but she kept it up. Ember looked over, slightly amused. After watching for a couple of seconds she jumped to Hunter's rescue. Ember moved her hand to his thigh and stroked it quite suggestively. She leaned over and put her mouth to his ear, causing him to move his head closer to her.

"I'm a little chilly. Could you ask this lovely lady for a couple of blankets, sweetie?" At that exact moment she squeezed his thigh, causing him to release a very soft, almost inaudible moan. Molly seemed taken aback and stepped back slightly. He looked up at her.

"My girlfriend would like some extra blankets.. Could you get some?" The woman nodded and hurried off to get the requested item. Ember sat back in her seat and was about to remove her hand when Hunter stopped her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him (they had moved the armrest up at the beginning of the flight.). "Thank you."

"Oh you're very welcome." The male attendant brought them their blankets and Ember put them over herself.

"You were actually cold?"

"A little bit. Mind if I sleep on you?"

"Not at all." Ember cuddled into him and immediately stared to drift off. Hunter ended up putting some of her blanket over himself. He downed the last if his scotch (still his first glass) and in a few minutes he fell asleep too. The six in the middle had unintentionally been watching the whole thing play out, mainly because there was nothing else to do on the plane, and it had raised a few questions out of Maka.

"Okay, both of those flight attendants were attractive and basically throwing themselves at him.. Why did Hunter only seem interested in the blonde? Especially when the redhead seemed better at flirting..." Tsubaki and Kidd had similar questions. Black Star was watching the in-flight movie, so he wasn't actually paying attention. Liz was more interested in how Ember had responded.

"Why'd she only get involved with the redhead? Hunter wasn't even flirting with her. If I was her I'd have done all that when the blonde was there.."

"I'll start with Liz's question. You see, Ember knows that her weapon is a man-whore. She doesn't really care and just lets him do whatever, mainly because she can't really stop him. But there are times when he doesn't want to hit on girls or be hit on by them, but the girl doesn't ever seem to take the hint, as you guys just saw. It's times like those that Ember plays the role as his girlfriend. The second she does that the girls leave." Made sense to all of them. "Now, as for why he wasn't interested in the redhead. Hunter has two rules when it comes to girls: One, he never hits on girls that are younger than him. Two, he never hits on red heads."

"Wait, but Ember..she's younger than Hunter.. And her hair is that deep red velvet color."

"Bingo. Now he had had the _'no girls younger than him'_ rule before he met her, but the _'no redheads' _happened after they became partners."

"Why?"

"Because, he feels that since Ember's hair is red, that she's the only redhead he should ever need. He may not see her as some bimbo to have sex with, but she does mean a lot to him, and he doesn't want her to feel replaced or like she's lacking something."

"That's actually really adorable." Maka and Liz smiled when Tsubaki said that. Of the three of them, she was the hopeless romantic. Sierra soon got up to use the bathroom. A few minutes after, Maka got up and headed back towards the bathrooms as well. She had to wait for one of them to be open, and the people in them seemed to be taking their time. She awkwardly looked around and her gaze rested on a tuff of white hair. She looked back to the bathrooms and saw they were still occupied. Sighing she went over to her weapon. He had his headphones in and his eyes were closed, but she could tell he was awake. Maka decided to sit on him. His eyes shot open at the sudden wieght on his lap.

"The hell? Maka?" She smiled at him and moved to the empty seat next to him.

"Hiya! How has this flight been for you so far?"

"Pretty good. Lance just watched the movie and slept for the beginning of it so far and I just listened to music. What about you?"

"Just talked to Sierra and everyone up there."

"So what brings you back here?" She looked to the still occupied bathrooms.

"I have to pee.. But the jerks in there are taking their grand old time." Soul laughed at her annoyed expression.

"Sucks for you I guess." The pair talked for a bit when one of the bathroom signs changed from red to green. She climbed over Soul and speed the 15 feet to the bathroom. She nearly knocked over the person leaving it. Or persons.

"Lance? Sierra? What the hell were you both doing in the same bathro-" Her face went bright red. "You guys had s- humph?" Sierra shoved her hands over the younger girl's mouth.

"**SHHHH!** Keep your voice down. This kind of thing is highly frowned upon!" Sierra seemed sufficiently embarrassed by the whole situation and being caught by Maka, but Lance was trying not to laugh.

"Hahahaha wow. This is kind of weird. Look, Maka, one day when you have a boyfriend and the two of you start fucking, you'll get the urge to do it in some untraditional locations. Even if it's not sex or with your boyfriend." Maka looked at him confused. He motioned his head in the general direction of Ember and Hunter. It had been nearly an hour since the two had originally fallen asleep, but they appeared to be wide awake, as Ember was asking the old man flight attendant for a pillow. He moved aside. "Bathroom is all yours."

"I think I'll wait for the next one..." He shrugged.

"Whatever works for ya." He stepped towards Sierra and leaned down to kiss her.

"I'm gonna go sit down. I'll see you when we land." He left and Sierra turned to Maka.

"Sorry if this was super awkward for you..." Maka waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. I feel like we're all gonna have a bunch of those moments.." Sierra laughed and headed back to her seat. Soon after the other door opened and an extremely old man came walking out with a cane in hand. Maka moved aside and then almost jumped into the bathroom.

The rest of the plane ride was uneventful. Everyone on the plane slept, chatted quietly, watched the movie, or ate. When the plane started approaching New York's airport, the pilot made some announcements and told everyone to sit down. It landed, approached the gates, and after five minutes everyone began to exit the plane. When Maka and the others left the tunnel like walkway, they saw Kiara and Trace waiting.

"Wow, I'm surprised you two waited!"

"I mean the gate that our next flight is at is right over there," Kiara pointed directly across the way, "and we didn't know if you would see it..." Ember glared at her.

"We aren't that stupid.."

"Mhmmm." Ember huffed and headed over to their next gate. The others followed suit and they all sat down in a small section of seats.

"Soo are we just supposed to sit here for an hour?"

"We could always get some food I guess.." Trace looked to Liz and Sierra.

"No, we can't. All the restaurants and shops are on the other side of security." They groaned and slumped down in their seats.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Everyone just stared blankly at each other, not knowing what to do.

"I don't know what you guys are gonna do, but I'm listening to music and sleeping." Ember proceeded to put her headphones in and leaned against Hunter's shoulder. Within minutes her eyes began closing and she was out like a light. Hunter took to checking out passing women, which resulted in a snort from Sierra.

"What?"

"Why do you do that?" He looked genuinely confused.

"Do what?"

"Check out other women and sleep around? I just don't get it..."

"You know, she's gotta point man. Especially since you don't even need to." Hunter grumbled at Lance's unwanted two cents. It was one thing for his sister to butt into his business, but not his sister's boyfriend. Friend of his or not.

"Look, it's really no one else's business. It's just how I am. And don't even bullshit me with that stupid _'it's hurting Ember'_ shit. Cause I know that's not the case."

"You're actually so stupid."

"Yeah well, it's not affecting you, so butt the hell out of it." Tsubaki shifted uncomfortably. There was a rising tension growing between the siblings and it was making her and her friends feel extremely out of place. Even Lance started fidgeting.

"Actually it is! Because when you do shit like this, you get unfocused and put Ember at risk! Not to mention everyone else!"

"That's not even remotely true! When have I ever been distracted enough to put Ember, or anyone else, in any kind of danger?"

"How about after that one girl had a pregnancy scare a year ago and you zoned out in a fight? Remember what happened to Ember? Oh yeah, she was in the hospital **UNCONSCIOUS** for a **WEEK.** Or how about when you two got in a fight because you slept with a girl that she told you not too? She couldn't wield you when she really needed to and she almost got killed! And you can still say you don't put her in any kind of danger?"

"That's none of your concern! Me and her talked about all that shit after it happened and she let it go. Just drop it, okay."

"It's not that simple you impossible ass! Just cause she says its fine doesn't mean it's true! You think she likes seeing you sleep around and drink yourself into coma every single night! Wake up Hunter! You're too absorbed in yourself all the time to even notice how much you hurt her!" Hunter looked furiously at his younger sister. He was about to answer her but was stopped.

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" Trace hissed out. He was sitting back in his seat, one leg crossed over the other, his arm around Kiara, and his head was looking up at the airport ceiling. Maka didn't need her soul perception to feel the annoyance radiating off of him. "This isn't the time or the place to have your stupid argument. We all know that Hunter is a sleazy drunkard. But it's not your job to ride his ass about it every single day, Sierra. Just let it go for now. You two can have it out once this mission is over. Besides, Chrona looks about ready to shit his pants, so stop making everyone else feel uncomfortable because you two can't let shit go." Sierra huffed but complied. Hunter glared over to Trace but didn't say a word.

"Sorry you all had to experience that. These two don't really think about how uncomfortable their arguments make everyone around them." Tsubaki was the one to answer Kiara.

"Oh it's not too big a deal. I know that we've all had our own little arguments like that too." Sierra sighed.

"Yeah, but that was kind of rude of me.. You guys haven't really known us long enough to understand where all that came from."

"Eh, I think I can think of a situation that sounded similar to what you were yelling at Hunter for. Minus the drinking part though." Though subtle, Kiara didn't miss what Liz was insinuating. Sierra turned her attention to Hunter.

"Sorry for snapping at you."

"I'm used to it. And don't even say it; I know that I'm not off the hook yet." Smiling smugly, Sierra turned her attention to the slightly younger group. Light conversations transpired for the rest of the time, and before long the attendants began the boarding process. Again, Kiara and Trace were seated first class while the others were escorted to coach. There was immediate dissatisfaction when they got their seating, as everyone was scattered about this time. Maka was seated between two guys that made her feel instantly uncomfortable, Soul was up in the front next to an old lady and her husband, Hunter got stuck beside a new mother and her baby, while Ember had to put up with two little kids. Chrona and Kidd lucked out and got seated next to each other. Tsubaki had a middle aged man next to her, which was a nice experience since he just gushed about his children and wife most of the time or slept. Liz was next to a girl about her age, and Patti got a big burly man as her travel buddy. The flight was around 7 hours in total, which dragged on and on for them all. Hunter nearly lost it when the baby he was stuck next to started crying and wouldn't stop. The mother was beyond useless in calming the little shit. Finally the attendants instructed everyone to buckle up and get ready for arrival.

After they exited the plane, the group sped to the gate that the cargo plane was scheduled to be at. When they got there, the attendant waiting turned to them.

"You just made it! You're luggage is all already on board. Hurry up and go take your seats." They all nodded and quickly walked down the connector to the plane. It was crammed with crates and boxes, and there were even two cages with chickens in them. There were four pairs of seats on each side of the plane's walls, two seats directly next to each other, a space, then the next two and so on. Everyone automatically went and sat next to their partner, except for Patti. She took the seat next to Chrona. Within seconds of sitting down, the plane took off and, much to Ember's dismay was extremely shaky.

"Oh my god. I'm not gonna make it..." She slunk down in her seat and groaned. Liz looked to Sierra.

"What's wrong with her?" It was semi awkward because she had to shout over the noisy plane engines. Sierra shouted back.

"Ember gets air sick really easily. We lucked out with the first two flights because they were smooth with no turbulence, but this flight is a hot mess without any kind of help from the wind." A second later she shouted to Liz again. "The chickens aren't helping either! Ember has this freaky allergy to their feathers." Liz looked over to the bright velvet red head. She had rearranged herself and was trying to get everything off her mind by tracing the tattoo on Hunter's hand. The brunette haired boy looked like he was about to fall asleep any second. Quickly, Liz entered a quiet conversation with Kidd about Patti and Chrona. She stated how they were just too cute together, mentioning how adorable it was that Patti was resting her head on Chrona's shoulder and how he had his head on her's. Kidd wasn't all that interested, but listened to Liz's gushing anyway. The two in question were at the other end of their row, so even if it was quieter they wouldn't have been able to hear the elder Thompson. Sierra fell asleep on Lance, Black Star followed suit by dozing off a few minutes later, and Maka pulled out a book.

"Really? You're gonna read? How lame can you get...?" Maka looked up and glared at Kiara. The older girl just scoffed. "Oh no, not a death glare! I'm so scared." The two proceeded to fall into a verbal onslaught, with Kiara criticizing and mocking Maka, while Maka just shouted back at her with big words and flailing arms.

"Kiara, will you shut the fuck up?" The black haired girl's attention was pulled to her weapon.

"Oh calm down, I'm just having a little fun." He shook his head.

"Yeah? Well I don't think she knows when you're kidding and when you're being an actual bitch." Kiara looked to the still fuming Maka. Rolling her dark eyes, she shouted back over to her.

"Oh calm down, Princess. I'm joking. Planes are just so boring, I need something to do. And your reactions are just too perfect.. Besides, I've read that book before. It's actually quite good." Maka's rage faded away instantly.

"You have? Do you read a lot of Ian McEwan?"

"When I have the time to actually sit down, I guess so." The conversation died down quickly, leaving a not too awkward but still semi weird feeling in the air. Tsubaki looked at Kiara's wrist, specifically at the tattoo she found so beautiful. Noting that this could be one of the only really good opportunities to ask for a while, Tsubaki gained Kiara's attention.

"I've been wondering for awhile now, and excuse me if I'm being rude, but what does that tattoo on your wrist symbolize? I know what a renegade is, but why did you have it tattooed on yourself?"

"Well.. I was young when I left my home. Probably 9 or something like that. I walked away from the beliefs and morals my family had always raised me with, and I never followed what others would order me to do. I just didn't see why I had too. Heh, I guess I was a rebel without a cause to most... After I left, I never went back home. I just wandered around. I'd never stay somewhere for more than a week, and I'd **NEVER** go somewhere more than twice."

"What about your family? Didn't they miss you or try to contact you or find you?" Kiara shrugged at Tsubaki's question.

"Naw, they never did any of those." Maka inserted herself into the conversation.

"What about now? It's been what, almost 10 years since you left? Wouldn't they miss you by now?"

"I doubt it. I really don't have a_ family._" Taking full notice of the air quotes she used with the word family, Maka was about to ask what she meant when they all got side tracked. Ember had shot up from her seat, effectively startling Hunter who jumped slightly, his arms becoming sword blades for a second, and bolted to the corner that had the chicken cages in it. She then proceeded to throw up her breakfast and lunch on the poor birds. The plane shook slightly from turbulence causing the already dazed girl to tumble backwards and onto her butt. She just sat there scowling.

**"I FUCKING HATE PLANES! AND CHICKENS! LIKE REALLY? WHO THE FUCK FLIES CHICKENS FROM MOSCOW TO THIS FUCKING ISOLATED ICEBOX? WHO HAS SUCH A STRONG CRAVING FOR CHICKEN THAT THEY ORDER THEM FROM GOD KNOWS WHERE, FRESH, JUST TO CUT THEIR CREEPY LITTLE HEADS OFF AND EAT! AND WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THIS OLD PIECE OF SHIT PLANE? IT COULD FALL APART ANY FUCKING SECOND AND WE COULD DIE. I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN WE LAND LORD DEATH IS GONNA GET A HUGE EARFUL!"** She huffed and crossed her harms over her chest. Her screaming woke up everyone who was asleep, which didn't make them all too happy with her. But what happen next shocked almost everybody. Kiara started cracking up. Full blown laughing. Trace just looked down at Ember, amusement clear on his face. Sierra was giggling at the still scowling Ember, while Lance and Hunter looked to Kiara and Trace, their faces matching Soul, Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, Black Star and Kidds'. Patti joined in with Kiara's laughing, but she was pointing to the confused looking fowls with a gross substance all over them. Chrona just looked uneasily at everyone.

"Oh my god, I forgot how much I love you're freak outs." Ember glared up at Kiara.

"Glad the Ice Queen could find some kind of humor in this. Same to her whipped lackey. You two suck." Her deadpanned response just made Trace actually let out a laugh and caused Kiara to laugh harder. Hunter shook his head.

"I need a fucking drink..."

"I actually don't know you two." Trace looked over to them, an amused smirk on his face. Patti's laughing had died down and so it had become a lot quieter. Now even she was paying attention to the whole situation. Because of this he was clearly heard.

"You guys know that Ember is probably one of the only people who can make this bitch laugh." The two males thought for a second. Hunter was the one to answer.

"Eh, yeah, that's actually pretty true." Lance saw how confused the younger weapons and miesters were, so he helped clarify things for them.

"You guys have probably noticed that nothing really amuses Kiara, aside from picking on Maka now, and that she's pretty much a bitch. And you may have noticed that Ember overreacts.. A lot. Well, Ember's freak outs are probably one of the only things on this planet that can actually get Kiara to laugh. Why? We have no idea." The eight younger kids just nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. Though they kind of liked Kiara when she wasn't glaring or tearing their characters apart. Suddenly in the midst of everything, the pilot came over the old loud speaker.

"Um, okay folks. Everyone buckle up and remain in your seats for the duration of the flight. It seems we'll be landing much much much sooner than anticipated." Everyone looked around, completely confused. They knew the flight was supposed to be only about two hours, but it couldn't have been more than one. Ember started to get up while everyone else began buckling up, when the plane shook even more than before. The sudden movement caused Ember to lose her footing and fall backwards, smashing into Soul and Maka. Her left elbow hit Soul square in the jaw, flinging his head back against the plane's wall, while her head and the majority of her body weight crashed on top of Maka.

"Owwwiee! Sorry guys..." Soul grumbled in response, rubbing his jaw. Ember pushed herself off of the two.

"It's okay; just sit down before you crash into us again!" Ember did as suggested and scurried over to her seat, quickly buckling up.

The landing was horrible, to say the least. Even though Ember was the only one who got air sickness, everyone started to feel a little nauseous. The plane shook and rattled as it got closer to the ground, and the constant bumping around would have knocked everyone over if they hadn't had their seat belts on. Suddenly the plane seemed to be crashing against the ground and was forced back up, and then hit the ground again and jumped back up. Patti clung to Chrona, screaming bloody murder at the noises the impacts were making. Liz had taken hold of Kidd's hand and was gripping it so hard that it was beginning to lose feeling, though he didn't say anything. Suddenly, with one last huge bounce against the ground, the plane stayed down, scratching against the icy ground for a few yards creating a horrible shrieking sound. When it finally came to a halt and didn't move for a few moments, they all decided it was safe to get up. Or at least attempt to get up. Black Star stood quickly and immediately fell over, his legs quivering. The others took a second to stretch their limbs before attempting to stand, which proved to be a good choice. Once up, they took to trying to find their rightful bags. They had been tossed about in the landing and were scattered among boxes and crates, one only a foot away from the puke covered birds. Lance walked over to the duffle bag.

"Of course mine would be the one that almost got forced into puke..." He carefully lifted it by its strap, checking it to be completely sure it was completely clean. While he did that, Sierra and Kidd tried to figure out how to get to their bags. They'd been thrown behind two over sized crates and jammed into the corner, and neither was small enough to reach them.

"Can we move the crates over maybe?"

"We'd need to get behind them.. Which we can't do. Can we break them?"

"Sure, if you wanna reimburse the owner two times what they're worth..." They sighed. Ember came over to them, having found her bag in a clusterfuck with Soul and Black Stars' which were somehow tangled together still.

"Why don't you climb them and drop down from the space behind the crate next to them and then reach back?" Sierra looked blankly at the girl.

"Cause I'm not an elastic woman?" Ember rolled her eyes.

"Here, hold this." She shoved her red sack into Sierra and headed towards the crates. She lifted her arms up to the small area of the top that wasn't covered by the box over it. She hoisted herself up quickly and carefully, turning her body in mid air so that her butt landed where her hands had just been. Ember stood and stretched out her right arm grabbing hold of the talked crate next to her. She jumped onto it and then suddenly dropped down behind it. Sierra and Kidd couldn't see the girl anymore and waited patiently for something to happen. In a few minutes a black bag with skulls resembling Lord Death's mask came flying over the crates, followed by a designer bag. Ember appeared on top of the boxes and swiftly jumped down, reclaiming her sack from Sierra.

"That was quite skillful." Ember just smiled at Kidd.

"She's pretty good at getting into impossible to reach places." Kidd looked to Sierra.

"And where did she get that skill from?"

"Sprinting into back allies, losing cops in old shipping yards, hiding from my parents in storage garages, fire escape chases... You know, stuff like that."

"Mhm, cause we all did that as children... You see, Ember is a bit of a street rat, Kidd. She got into all kinds of trouble in her hometown and had to find a billion ridiculous ways of escape."

"I see." So that was one more piece of information gathered. Everyone else found their belongings soon after. Hunter looked around.

"So do we just go or wait for the captain or what?" They all just sort of shrugged at the question. The next question to present itself was asked by Tsubaki.

"Does anyone know where we landed?" Liz huffed. Like any of them could really know the answer to that.

"My best guess would be somewhere cold and snow covered."

"The pilot said we were landing an hour sooner than expected, and the plane never turned to change directions. We're probably just a few miles south of the town." Trace headed over towards the door to the cockpit. "Let's see if he's got any idea of where we're at." He opened the door, but became weary when it required more force than necessary. Trace felt his anger rise when he was met with an empty control room. "Fuck." He walked closer and saw that the emergency door was wide open. _'That bastard jumped off the fucking plane? Are you kidding?'_ He walked back to the others and hated how they looked expectantly at him.

"Well? What's he say."

"Nothing. Nothing at all. The fucking ass jumped off the plane." They just stared at him, disbelief clear on their faces.

"Why would he jump off the plane? Was he trying to kill us?"

"Who would try to kill a god like me?" Trace's gaze went to Ember and Black Star.

"I doubt we were who he was trying to kill." Chrona jumped when Ragnorok suddenly came out.

"And why is that, pretty boy?" Trace just glared at the little creature. He absolutely hated stupid nicknames like that. Kiara answered coldly.

"He was trying to kill himself. He saw that the plane didn't have enough gas to make it to our destination, but it had enough to land semi properly. He put into autopilot and jumped. That's what the first shake was after his announcement of landing soon. Him hitting the propellers." Maka cringed. That was absolutely horrifying. Soul looked questioningly at Kiara.

"Wait a second, you didn't investigate the cockpit. How'd you know any of that?"

"Doesn't really matter. We need to go. And now. It'll be dark soon and there's no way any of you can fight bears and wolves when you can't feel your arms or legs. Get your extra layers on and let's get off this shit fest." Seeing her point, everyone did as instructed. Once ready, they went through the emergency door in the cockpit and headed in the direction that the nose of the plane was facing. The wind hit into them like tiny little knives and the snow was up to the boys' knees. They were making way at a painfully slow pace, Kiara leading the way. Sudden doubt washed over Maka. How did Kiara know this was the right way? How was Trace so sure that the direction of the plane never changed? Their close friends may have been willing to follow them without any questions, but she wasn't. Shouting above the ferocious wind, Maka voiced her worries.

"Kiara, how do you know this is the right way?" The black haired girl never turned around. "Kiara!" Still no answer. Was it possible that she really didn't know at all? **"KIA-"**

"Maka, trust her!" She saw Hunter's head turned to her slightly. She saw he had his arms securely around his partner, trying to give his body heat to the shivering girl. "Kiara's good with directions, okay? But she needs to concentrate. She'll get us to the lodge safely, I promise you that!" The tone in his voice was the same assuring one he had given her in the ally. She knew she didn't have much of a choice now, seeing how everyone was putting their faith in the girl leading the way. Maka felt slightly warmer suddenly and turned to see Soul right by her side. His red orbs warmed her, almost like a fire. His hair seemed to melt in with the surrounding landscape which was somehow amusing to her. He kind of looked like a snow demon or something.

"You okay Maka?" He had to speak loudly for her to hear him. She shivered but nodded anyway.

"Yeah! I just need a hot shower once we get to the lodge!"

"Ha, I think everyone is gonna need one of those!" She felt his body come closer and gladly accepted the small amount of new body heat. The group had walked for what seemed like hours before anyone said anything else. Black Star had been eerily quite the whole time and as surprising as it was, seemed genuinely concerned about Tsubaki more than himself. Patti was also too silent for her friends' liking. Liz had slowed her pace slightly so that she was now next to her little sister instead of Kidd.

"Patti, how are you holding up?" Patti rubbed her arms to warm them up.

"I-I-I'm fin-nne s-s-s-ssis! Do-don't worr-ry!" Her words were too choppy and forced for Liz's liking. She stopped and started to unzip the extra coat she had on. Patti started shouting at her. "S-stop! D-dd-don't take y-you're coat-t-tt off-f! Y-yo-you'll fr-fr-" She was cut off when Liz forced her discarded coat onto Patti.

"No, take it! I'm not having you get sick because I couldn't suck it up and give you my extra coat! And don't you fight m-me on this Pat!" She started feeling the full affect of the cold wind that the other jacket had kept away. She couldn't find the energy to speed up and get next to Kidd again, so she lagged slightly behind Chrona and Patti. Liz felt a lot better when the violent shivering of her sister had finally stopped and decided being cold was worth it. She felt even better when she noticed Chrona walking closer to her sister. "So cuutteee.." The group was slowed when a huge freezing gust of wind came into them. Liz nearly toppled over at the force of it. Her shivers became more violent, possibly worse than how Patti's had been, and her teeth were chattering so much that it hurt. She shut her eyes for what she thought was a second, but upon opening saw she was wrong. Liz was now three times further behind everyone else and was standing still. She tried to will her legs to move but they wouldn't budge.

_'Shitshitshitshitshitshiiiit!'_ She tried to yell for them but found her voice wouldn't work. As luck would have it though, Kidd turned to check on Patti right before Liz was completely out of sight.

"Crap!" He saw his other weapon way too far behind and she didn't appear to be moving towards them. **"HEY! HOLD UP!"** The panic in his voice made them all stop in an instant. Sierra turned.

"What's wrong?"

"Liz, she fell behind. I'm going back to get her!" Lance seemed ready to protest until he saw how far she was.

"Make it quick! We can't stay put for too long!" Nodding quickly, Kidd turned on his heel and quickly headed to the blonde. He walked back through the already made tracks, helping him go faster. As he approached her, he saw Liz's eyes were shut tightly and that she was shaking uncontrollably. Her legs seemed ready to give out any second and the tip of her nose was turning a purple color.

"Liz!" She didn't respond. Right when he reached out to her she started to collapse. He rushed forward and caught her, pulling close and running her arms trying to warm her up._ 'Where the hell did your other jacket go? This one isn't strong enough to keep you warm in this kind of cold for very long!'_

"K-Kidd..." He heard a low murmur and looked at her. Her eyes were still closed tightly and her muscles were still clenched trying to keep warmth in them. Knowing that everyone else couldn't wait much longer for him, Kidd put one of Liz's arms over his shoulder and balanced her weight so that it was mostly against him.

"Liz, I need you to try and walk. Can you hear me?" The girl's eyes started to open through a bunch of tries, and when she finally got them open she looked around confused. She saw gold eyes staring at her and showing general concern. Instantly Liz became flustered and tried to get out of Kidd's grasp.

"AH! Sorry! I'm f-fine! I just needed a q-quick..umm.. Rest!" She tried to stand by herself but nearly toppled over, being stopped only by Kidd.

"Liz, you're not fine. You're shaking more than you should be and you almost passed out. Just let me help you until we've reached the lodge."

"You aren't really giving me an option there, are you?" Kidd shook his head and again put Liz's arm around his shoulders. Pulling her close the two headed towards the others.

"Where exactly did your other jacket go?"

"I gave it to Patti. She needed it more than I did.." The conversation stopped after that, neither needing to speak anymore. As soon as they reached the group everyone began moving. Kiara's pace seemed faster and more urgent than before and it caused a silent worry among the others. She had yet to speak since they had left the plane, so they had no way of knowing if she sensed some unknown danger or if she was just cold and wanted to get to the town before night, though a combination of the two was logical. The wind began to pick up speed and snow started to fall. It was a light flurry at first, but within half an hour it was a full out blizzard.

**"HOW MUCH FURTHER?"** Everyone silently hoped that Kiara would answer Black Star, but she didn't.

"Fuck, Kiara! We need information!" Hunter was losing his patience. He could hardly feel any part of him and it didn't take a genius to realize that if they didn't find shelter soon that they'd suffer from frostbite, if they weren't already. He was about to scream again when he was silenced.

**"SHUT UP. IT'S NOT MUCH FURTHER. JUST A FEW MORE MINUTES**." Trace's stare felt colder than the blizzard. For 20 minutes no one said anything. Thankfully the blizzard gave away rather quickly and when they saw a sign and then buildings, a tension and fear that had been looming over them died away. The lodge was the first building coming into town, and Black Star and Lance bolted to it. Hunter pushed Ember along a little faster and took hold of Sierra's arm to get her going too, and they, along with everyone else, hurried after the two boys who had just entered the building. The only ones who stayed in the snow were Trace and Kiara. He turned to her. Her eyes were glazed over and her breathing was heavy. Trace placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, and he also leaned over slightly and put his forehead against hers. The sudden contact brought her out of her dazed state. "You did good."

"No, I didn't do a thing." Her tone was teasing and Trace's lips formed a smirk.

"Right, I forgot you're useless. **SHE** did good." She half smiled and he placed a soft kiss against her lips and then backed up. "You're colder than your nonexistent heart right now. Come on, before everyone comes and bugs us." Wordlessly the pair headed for the lodge. When they walked in, Kiara's calm expression was replaced with a harsh scowl and she suddenly wished that she and Trace had stayed outside.

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><p>Yayy! Over 9,000 words snitches!<p>

**PLEASE READD THIS: Okay, so I have a poll up, and I reaaaalllyyy need you guys to do it! I want to add some romantic tensions, and I want to have either Liz, Tsubaki, or Maka have some kind of new romantic interest come along! (:  
>Now, I'm sorry but, Patti is NOT included in this... I wouldn't even know where to start with that hahahah. Also, this romantic interest could turn into a boyfriend, depending on who you guys pick. <strong>

**OKAY, GO DO THAT AND THEN READ THE NEXT TWO CHAPTERS WHEN I UPLOAD THEM! **Dueces, friends.


	8. The Mission

Here's chappy 7!(:

Enjoy. And don't forget to review aaannndd do that poll!

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 8**

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><p>"I'm sorry sir, but that's what our manager has down for the arrangements... I can't change that now.."<p>

"**BULLSHIT!** The reservations that Lord Death made were beyond specific! I wanna see this manager right fucking now!"

"I'm sorry, but he's not currently in right no-" A new voice started yelling.

"**ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? **He messes up our reservations and then **LEAVES?**"

"Guys..calm down..."

"What kind of shitty establishment is this? How do you people mess up **on ROOM RESERVATIONS?**" The man behind the counter cowered. Black Star, Hunter, and Lance were all screaming at him and apparently had been since they walked in. Sierra was trying to get them to stop making a scene, while the others waited awkwardly by the fire and seating across from the desk. Ember paled when she saw Kiara and Trace.

"This won't end well..." She mumbled. Trace walked over to the fire and sat, staring at the scene that was about to unfold. The others who were with him took his lead and did the same. It all happened rather fast. Kiara calmly walked over to the three males, giving Sierra a look that said 'get lost'. Once the girl was in a safe area, Kiara struck. She back handed Hunter across the back of the head, making him slam into the wall beside the desk. Her attention turned to Lance and she grabbed his arm, bent it behind his back, and then swiped his feet out from under him. Having no way to balance himself, he collapsed, his chin striking the corner of the front desk on his way down. Black Star registered Kiara's presence too late and was met with a punch straight in the gut. The force was unreal and he went hurling back and slammed into Hunter who had just managed to get back up, making him hit the wall again. Kiara moved Lance over delicately with her foot and stood in front of the man behind the desk. The others just stared on, Ember and Patti laughing hysterically, while everyone else, minus Sierra and Trace, looked horrified. It took her all of 10 or so seconds to take down the three boys. The employee behind the desk, his name tag said Stew, looked ready to pee himself.

"I'm sorry about that, Sir. They're idiots. What seemed to be the problem?" Her tone almost made Maka throw up. It was sweet as candy and innocent. The girl had even put up a fake smile. Stew seemed taken aback as well but reclaimed his calm.

"Well, it seemed that our manager somehow messed up with you and your friends' rooms.. Apparently it was requested that you all be placed on the same floor and next to each other, but for whatever reason, you all are spread out. And I'm afraid that we can't change anything now, as it's too late and we have too many other guests who would need to be moved around... I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience and the lodge would like to make it up to you all by providing you with free breakfast and dinner, and complimentary spa services for the next three days."

"Oh it's no trouble at all, don't worry about it. Mistakes happen. Though it's quite kind of you to be willing to give us all three meals and unlimited spa services for free for the rest of our stay."

"I didn't say all of tha-"

"I think you did." Kiara's tone became threatening and the man cringed.

"Right. Of course I did! H-here are your keys and room assignments. Do have a great stay."

"Thank you." Sweet as milk chocolate again. Kiara's gaze went to the three battered boys. "Get the fuck up and get to the couches. Now." They scrambled up and followed her to the rest of their party. Kiara opened the paper that had the room assignments on it and read it off, giving out the keys as she did so. "On the fourth floor in room, D02 is Chrona, D13 is Ember and in D15 is Hunter. Third floor is Tsubaki, Patti, Lance, and myself. Rooms C19, C4, C33, and C23 respectively. On the second floor is Soul in room B01, Sierra in B27, Black Star in B12, Kidd in B8, and Liz in B47. The first floor, this one, is Maka and Trace. Rooms A06 and A08. We have three hours before they lock us into our rooms, and we still need to discuss the mission. Everyone unpack, get warm showers, eat, change, and whatever else you need to do. At 9:30 meet in my room and we'll go over everything that we need to." Everyone agreed with the plan and headed for the elevator, except for Trace, Maka, and Lance. Trace and Maka went the opposite way down the hall to where their rooms were and Lance went to the stairs. The other 11 shuffled into the small elevator. Because of their bags there wasn't as much space, which made for a rather crammed ride up.

"Sierra, why did Lance head straight for the stairs without even looking at the elevator?"

"Well it's kind of stupid, but he's got this fear of elevators. I didn't know how bad it was a few years ago and made him go in one with me, and he started hyperventilating and freaking out. Like he was up against the doors and everything." Sierra answered Tsubaki laughing.

"Why is he afraid of them?"

"We aren't really sure. Whenever we ask him he gets defensive and is all _'I'm not afraid of elevators! I just don't like them!'_" The group laughed at Ember's horrible impersonation of Lance. The elevator stopped at the second floor and the doors opened up. Soul, Kidd, Black Star, Sierra and Liz grabbed their things and headed to their rooms. Kidd and Soul took an immediate right and down the hall that had the smaller numbered rooms, while Black Star awkwardly walked 10 feet from the elevator to his room. The girls headed left and down the long hallway. Sierra stopped at the end and started opening her door. Liz's room was down two more halls.

"Of course I'm in the room that's away from everyone. Sweet."

The 6 in the elevator felt less crammed once those the five got off. In a few moments the elevator stopped again and the three girls assigned to the third floor stepped off. They went to their respective rooms quickly. The three on the forth floor did the same once the elevator got to their floor. It was 8:05, meaning they all had an hour and twenty five minutes to themselves. The first thing that anyone did was head to their room's bathroom and get warm showers.

* * *

><p>With Maka<p>

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><p>Sitting on her bed, Maka looked around. She finished her shower, unpacked, lit her fire place so that there was more heat in her room, and was now watching some weird russian show. She couldn't understand a word of it.<p>

"Hmmm, what to do..." She looked at the time and groaned. "I still have half an hour until I need to head to Kiara's room. Ugh, why'd I have to finish all my books on the plane?" She was quite for a second. She heard something fall in the room next door and then some swearing. "I wonder what he dropped this time." Maka had toyed with the idea of trying to talk to Trace a while ago, but decided against it. He didn't seem like the talking type to her, and though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was kind of scared of him. His story, his eyes, and what his weapon formed seemed to look like (she and her friends had only what his one arm looked like), it all terrified her. "I probably need to get over that soon. Especially if I'm gonna have to work with him." Maka laid back onto her bed. She pulled the sleeves of the hoodie she had on over her hands and turned onto her side. Her green eyes rested on the fire.

* * *

><p>-knockknockknockknockknock-<p>

* * *

><p>Maka's eyes shot open and she jumped slightly and looked around. It was 9:27. 'What? I fell asleep?'<p>

"Maka." She heard a smooth, deep voice say her name and her head turned to the door. Getting up she walked over to it and opened it. Before her stood Trace. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and sweatpants, his dog tags on like usual and his two studs in his left hear. His black hair was a mess, but it looked sexy on him. "You ready to head up?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I am." He backed up while she shut and locked her door and the two headed silently to the elevator. It went straight to the third floor and when they got off, the door to the stairs opened and Lance stepped out in a light blue long sleeved shirt and grey basketball shorts.

"Hey guys." Trace grunted softly in response. Maka gave him an actual greeting.

"Hey Lance." The three then went down the hall to Kiara's room. Patti was the one to answer the door.

"**HIYA!** Come on in!" Maka held in her laugh at Patti's shirt, it was beige with a yawning giraffe on it and the pants had the giraffe spots on it. As the three entered, they saw Hunter sprawled out on the bed and Liz and Kidd sitting on a small couch against the wall.

"Why does she get a couch in her room? I didn't get one in mine..." Lance grumbled. Hunter groaned.

"Her bed is comfier than mine...it's like a fucking cloud."

"The bathroom is huge too. It's like three of my room's bathroom put together." Patti laughed at her sister. Trace took a place against the wall, right by the lit fire place. He just rolled his eyes at them all, but he did notice that Kiara's room was much more elegant than all the others. It seemed slightly odd to him. The sound of the door opening gained everyone's attention. The Black Star and Soul came in, followed by Chrona and then Tsubaki and Sierra. Black Star looked around and was immediately unhappy.

"Why is her room bigger than mine?" Grumbles, groans, and giggles were responses to him. Those who had just come in found somewhere to stand or sit. Sierra saw how large the bed was and knew that there was room for probably four people to just sit, though Hunter was taking up the whole thing. She decided to make room for herself and Hunter snarled when she sat down.

"Whoa there killer. Calm down. And move over, there's more than enough room for two people on this thing." Reluctantly the boy rolled over. Seeing even more space, Tsubaki took a seat next to Sierra on the bed. For 10 minutes it was quiet. There was a knock on the door and Chrona, being the closest to it, answered.

"O-oh, hi Ember..." He moved back and allowed room for the red head to enter. Hunter instinctively looked up at her and scowled. Feeling his stare she looked at him.

"Whaaat?" Plopping his head back down, he answered her.

"Why the fuck do you have my shirt on?" She was about to respond but he interrupted her. "And don't say you had it or you found it. Because I distinctly remember putting it away 40 minutes ago. Which means you _just_ took it." Ember walked over to the bed and sat down, putting her toned legs over Hunter's chest.

"Yes I _just_ took it. Is this really that surprising? Get over it." He gust grumbled. Soul looked at the time.

"It's almost 10. Where's Kiara?" Silence was the answer.

"She always does this. She tells us to meet up at a certain time and then she gets there way after when she told us to." Kidd looked over at Lance.

"So why do you all still meet at the time she gives you?" The blonde boy just shrugged at him.

"Couldn't tell you."

"They're just afraid of disobeying her." Eyes went to Trace. He was now sitting next to the fire place, his arms resting on his bent legs and his eyes closed.

"That's not true!" One black eye opened.

"Oh yes it is." His words were simple but they seemed to end the conversation. Tsubaki noticed how when Trace and Kiara spoke, the other four would try to argue sometimes but in the end do as told or give up the one sided fight. 'It's all about power and authority with them...or at least it seems to be.' She wondered where she and her friends fit into these people's minds. Though her thoughts were cut short when the door opened once more and slammed shut. Kiara appeared and she didn't seem happy. She had on her signature black, slightly off the shoulder, mid-drift shirt and dog tags, and a pair of tight athletic shorts. Her wavy black hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and it seemed frozen. Maka and the others also got a semi good view of her key tattooed onto the side of her body; it had a rusty appearance and small purple, red, and black jewels on the part that would go into the keyhole. The body of it was slender and realistic scratches were all over it, and then it disappeared under her shirt. They also saw a small tattoo on her neck towards the back of her right ear and shoulder. It was in a different language though, so what it said was a mystery. The girl dropped a file onto the corner of the bed, right by Sierra, and started speaking.

"Here's the deal. We're here for an indefinite amount of time. Our job is to find out where a Witch is hiding out and creating tiny monster things that have been causing major issues, and kill her. Don't ask me what her name is, cause I don't know. It's not in the file. And no, the monsters are not Kishin eggs. They're actual little green creepy looking monsters. Apparently they've been messing with power lines and energy sources in the town, one kid went missing after one if their visits, and some of the older, bigger monsters have supposedly been going to more populated areas in the region and have taken to killing people. The Witch herself has been causing problems around the world too, so she needs to be taken out. Finding her is one of the biggest issues we'll have. No one around here has any idea where she's hiding, though there are apparently a bunch of caves and tunnels and abandoned cabiens all around the area. Tomorrow we split up and start asking around town. Be warned, it's a touchy subject for a lot of people, so some may not be helpful. The shop owners are your first priorities, from there older residents, and then anyone who's left. Once we've asked around, we'll be heading out to investigate some nearby caves. If all that comes out with nothing, we head towards the mountains and search. Got it?"

"Can we just track her soul? That would save so much time and leg work." Kiara shot Maka's suggestion down in an instant.

"You really think no one thought of that already?"

"Wha-"

"Look, I suggested that already. That's why Kiara was late getting here. She was on the roof trying to locate the witch." Everyone looked to Hunter. Their attention went back to Kiara when she spoke.

"It didn't work. She's either nearby with a damn good soul protect on or too far out of range." After a long sigh she continued. "Because of the uncertainty of how far she could be, we'll spend the whole week gathering information. Don't just focus on asking about the witch or the monsters. Ask about the surrounding landscape, how the town's energy and power is distributed, who a prime target could be, how long these monsters have been an issue, if anything weird started happening before all of this, anything you think could be useful later on. Actually, just anything you want to know. Small towns like this always have secrets. And Hunter," Said boy glanced at the girl, "Gathering information doesn't include drinking or sleeping around. Got it?"

"Seriously? You're just gonna call me out on that?"

"Yes. Because you're the only one who could somehow fuck the wrong girl and screw us out of information. And you get nasty when you drink. And you're the only one who drinks."

"Fine. Whatever. I'll keep it my pants."

"Good. Now everyone get out." They all left the room in an instant, except for Trace. He stayed in his spot, eyes still closed. He felt Kiara walk closer and when he knew she was right in front of him he opened one eye lazily. "Comfy?"

"No, not really." She bent down, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet. Her hand went to the scar on his neck. The sudden contact made him shudder slightly, though the cold feeling of her skin felt good against him. His opened eye closed as a reaction and much to his dismay, he leaned into her touch.

"Hmm, how cute."

"Hmph. Shut up." She rolled her eyes at his cold tone. She shifted her weight and fell back onto her heels and took her hand with her. This movement earned her a low growl sound from the boy. His eyes opened to stare at her. Kiara was now leaning back on both hands her legs in a pretzel. She was staring off into the fire. "You know how far off she is, don't you?"

"Not yet. But I will soon enough." His gaze never left her.

"So why have us bullshit around here for a week? It's a waste of time and energy."

"Because, Maka and her friends need rest. They aren't used to extensive travel like we are. We go the second I find out this Witch's location and those seven would become dead weight and be at a major risk. And you know how Ember is in the cold. I want her to get small amounts of exposure before just pushing into it for who knows how long." A soft smile made its way onto Trace's perfect face.

"Look who's ice heart is melting. Admit it; you don't entirely hate those kids." Her features softened a bit.

"We'll see." After that, Trace stood.

"I'll see you in the morning." Kiara's eyes never left the fire.

"Yeah.. Goodnight Trace." He turned to the door and walked out. He made his way down the hall and to the elevator, not even acknowledging Black Star and Tsubaki when he passed them. The blue haired boy glared after him.

"Hi to you too, jack ass."

"Black Star, shush. I'm sure he was just too caught up in his thoughts and didn't notice us." He huffed.

"Yeeeeaaaahhh, probably. Why else would he ignore a god like me?" Tsubaki just sat back in her seat, not even giving her miester an answer. He didn't seem to notice and kept on talking. "So, tomorrow do you wanna train for a bit? I wanna get used to fighting in this kind of cold."

"We're all supposed to be gathering information, not training.. Weren't you listening?"

"But there are like 14 of us on this mission! I doubt we'll miss anything if two people don't go out asking people things. Besides, we have a whole week to find out stuff!" There didn't seem to be any giant flaw in his logic, surprisingly. Tsubaki just sighed in defeat.

"I guess we can train for a little bit... But we can't be out there for too long, okay?" He nodded his head eagerly; just happy he'd get to do something he enjoyed. Looking at a nearby analog clock, Tsubaki stood up. "It's almost 11. We need to go to our rooms."

"Ugghhh, this curfew thing is already stupid! Why does it matter if we aren't in our rooms at 11?"

"I don't know Black Star, but it's the lodge's rules."

"Want me to walk you to your room?" A small laugh left Tsubaki's lips.

"Sure, considering you have to pass it anyways to get to the elevator." Black Star's face flashed red.

"**OH!** Right! **HA HA HA HA HA**, I knew that!"

"Sure you did.." The pair headed down the hall and paused when they reached Tsubaki's door. "Goodnight, Black Star. Do you want me to come wake you up when I'm ready?"

"Nahh, I'll get up! Get a lot of rest; I don't want you to be tired at all!"

"Haha, of cour-"

"**HEY!** Get to your rooms kids. We're locking the doors in five minutes! Go go go go go!" Black Star glared at the lodge employee.

"It's rude to interrupt people! And we're going! Jeeesh!"

"Well say goodbye and goodnight to your girlfriend faster! Hurry it up!"

"**ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!** Stop ordering me around!" Black Star turned his head to Tsubaki. "Goodnight! I'll see you bright and early!" He then took off before she could answer. The employee walked passed her and spoke in a much more polite voice.

"I'm sorry about that, Miss. It's just policy that we get everyone to their rooms in a timely fashion. Have a nice evening."

"I-it's okay. You have a good evening too." She quickly unlocked and entered her room, her face still bright red.

* * *

><p>With Maka and Soul.<p>

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><p>"So you're gonna be out the whole day tomorrow just asking people questions? That's so lame."<p>

"But we have to Soul! What are you planning on doing? Just eating like a pig?" He chuckled.

"Just for a bit. Then I'm probably gonna ask around the lodge and see if anyone knows anything here. I don't wanna go out in that cold just yet."

"You're so lazy!"

"Hey! Am not! I'll be doing something productive and useful! Jeez, get off my back." Maka just laughed at his whiney voice. The pair was currently in the lobby by the giant fire place on the couch. Maka was laying against the large armrest and her legs were over Soul's lap. He had his feet on the nice coffee table. Maka's green eyes went to them and she laughed again.

"I'd get my feet off of that. That one maid got pretty riled up about your dirty socks resting on the mahogany.."

"Oh no, not the mahogany!" Another laugh left her mouth. Soul just smirked lazily, a few of his sharp teeth showing. After Kiara had kicked everyone out of her room he'd offered to take Maka to her's, but they got distracted when they reached the lobby and had been there ever since. They'd just talked about stupid things and Soul had managed to make his miester laugh more in that 35 minutes span than he had that whole week. He was about to say something else when they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, but it's 5 minutes to 11. You two need to be in your rooms and quickly." Soul just grumbled.

"Yeah yeah..." Maka and he got up reluctantly and the employee started walking away. "Pshh, stupid curfew." He turned to the blonde. "Can you get me up for breakfast? I didn't understand all the Russian on the alarm in my room..."

"Sure, I'll get you once I'm all ready."

"Thanks, night Maka."

"Goodnight Soul." Maka turned down the hall that led to her room and saw Trace in the process of unlocking his. His head looked up at the sound of footsteps.

"Hm, hey Maka."

"Evening neighbor." She instantly regretted the dorky greeting. Trace just looked at her, amusement clearly on his face.

"Evening. That employee order you to bed too?" She nodded her head.

"Mhm. Cause apparently I'm three and can't tell time."

"Sounds about right. Well, I don't wanna deal with him again. Night." He opened his door and walked inside.

"Night." Maka did the same. Right as their doors closed the same employee walked down their hall and locked them in with a master key.

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><p>Here we are. I hope you guys enjoyed! Chapter 9 will be up someime tonight!<p>

And any Hunger Games fan reading thing; did you notice the mahogany reference? I love Effie. (:

Okay, That's all for now! Dueces.


	9. Just A Dream?

And here is the lovely chapter 9! Now, this chapter is mostly all from only Maka's point of view, and it is a dream sequence. So the whole thing in the dream is technically Maka's thoughts... I hope it's not too horribly set up!

Thanks for all of the adds to story alerts and stuff! And the comments! And to the one person who has done the poll! So far Maka is winning by a landslide! Lawlzzz.

**GO VOTE! ! (:**

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 9**

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><p>'<em> Everything was black. Am I in a room? I looked around, but the walls, ceilings and floors, if there were any, just blended together.<em> "What is this place?" _I walked around, but nothing changed. Black emptiness surrounded me every step of the way._ "Hello? Heellooo? Is anybody here?" _No answer. I should have expected that. I just walked around for what seemed like hours without a word. Without seeing any sign of another person. I let out a long heavy sigh. _"Why am I here? I know this isn't a dream or anything...at least I don't think it is.." _I stopped walking._ "Wouldn't I have woken up by now? Ugh, this is so frustrating." _Again I called out._ "Hello? Soul? Tsubaki? Anyone?" _And again I was greeted with silence. I'd already tried pinching myself to see If I'd wake up, but that only hurt. So that meant I wasn't dreaming. And that meant that I was stuck in some creepy black empty..place. I'd tried walking in each direction for a while to see if maybe there was a wall or something to give me an idea of the area, but I never hit anything. When I reached up, I hit nothing. And I reached down, I just freaked out. I could see the black below my feet, but I couldn't feel it. It was as though I was standing on nothing. But I could walk normally.. Nothing made sense! Then a horrible thought struck me._ "What if I can't get out of here...?" _That's something I didn't want to think about for too long. I __**HAD**__ to get out of there._

_I'm pretty sure I just liked hearing my own voice, cause I just talked and screamed, obviously aware that I wasn't going to get any answer. I was dizzy, probably because I was so hungry. How long had I been just walking around? Hours? Days? I had no idea. I must have become really desperate, because of all the people I called out to, her name finally left my lips._ "...Kiara?" _Nothing. But it was odd. I felt like I needed to say it again. So I did._ "Kiara?" _And again,_ "Kiara? **KIARA**_**?**__" I just kept saying it, like a parrot or something. And then I noticed something. I turned my head and nearly jumped. A few yards away stood a little girl. She had extremely long pure white hair. I'd be willing to say it was whiter than Soul's. The girl wore a simple flowy white dress too, that went down to her knees. The top of it was sleeveless, the straps being maybe two and a half fingers in width, and it had a slight v-neck. But it was her eyes that had me puzzled. They were pure white too, but they seemed so familiar, but I couldn't quite place why. I was about to say something to her when she stopped me. She held up a finger to her lips and in an instant spun around to face the other way. She looked back at me and flashed a smile before turning her head away. I had the feeling that she wanted me to follow her, so I did. _

_Why I kept behind this girl was a mystery to me. She just danced around, heading forward, and didn't say anything. We had stopped probably five times because she wanted to just watch her dress twirl around when she spun around, and it was starting to get on my nerves. And any time I tried to say something she'd do her silencing motion and I'd just shut my mouth, like I had no choice but to do as she silently instructed. I was starting to think that following her was a really bad idea. I was about to just turn around, but I never did. The girl in white stopped and giggled, and that caught my attention. I had to really look, but I finally focused in on the other girl standing a few feet ahead of us. Pale skin, long ink black hair, black eyes, and a dress much like the girl in white's only it was black. She seemed younger than the other girl by a year or two and much more timid. Her hair fell over her face and she looked at the floor. Thinking maybe she'd let me speak, I opened my mouth. Her eyes instantly went to me and widened, and her hands flew to her ears._ _**'Okay, so she doesn't wanna listen to me, and the white haired one won't let me talk. This is going great...' **__The girl in white danced around the girl in black, who just stared at the floor and held the bottom of her dress. __**'These two obviously aren't going to help me... And I can't waste anymore time here. I need to figure where I am and how to get out of here.' **__I looked to the two young girls and decided now would be the best time to leave. They weren't looking at me and seemed thoroughly distracted. I turned around and walked off towards the blackness ahead of me. I felt like I was back at square one, and I was starting to get frustrated. I just walked in random directions for who knows how long._

_I must have zoned out, because it wasn't until two small hands grabbed my own did I suddenly come back to my own mind. I looked around and saw that, although the surrounding area was still black and empty, that there were now ledges and different shades of black. I think the lightest it actually went was gray. My eyes went from my surrounding area to the two girls holding my hands__**.**_** 'I thought I left these two awhile ago. Did they follow me around or something?'** _I was about to ask but I stopped myself. __**'They didn't want me to talk before, so I doubt they'll let me now.'**_ _Letting the two lead me, we walked in random directions for who knows how long. The color scheme started to mess with my head and gave me a headache, and I really lost any grasp I had on this strange place when I looked up. There were stairs of grays and blacks and ledges and caves on what I assumed was the ceiling._ _**'What the hell?'**_ _I just wanted to get to wherever these two were taking me as fast as possible._

_By the time we stopped, I was ready to sit down and never move again. We were back in an endless stream of black with no exit or anything in sight, and I couldn't feel my feet. The two girls, who I just noticed were shoeless, seemed un-phased and waited until I was ready to go again. Not that I made that anytime soon. Once I was feeling somewhat better, I got up and started walking forward. And that's when they stopped me. I looked back at them, confusion plastered on my face. The girl in white just giggled and strode ahead of me. She placed her pale palm up and it didn't move. I thought she was just holding it there until I saw a foggy black around it._ _**'Could it be? A wall?'**_ _I looked to the girl in black, who just moved shyly toward her friend. She placed her hand next to the others and then looked back at me. Both outstretched their unused limbs towards me, giving me a look that said __**'take them'**__, so I did. Again, I don't know why. And I wish I hadn't. Because I realized they were disappearing into the wall. And that they were now dragging me with them._ _**'This is so not good! Why would I follow around two random kids in a fucked up place like this? Now I'm probably going to die. And no one will find me. Ever.'**_ _I had my eyes closed and my mind just kept screaming out profanities and horrible outcomes to this. What a way to go out, huh?_

"Esme. Esíme. What are you doing?" _Well that didn't sound like death. It sounded like...a woman? I forced my eyes opened and looked around. There was no one but me and the two girls. The girls were both looking at the top of a ledge. I took this opportunity to look around further. The room was round and a deep gray, and the darkest place was the ledge right in front of us._ "Why have you brought her here?" My _eyes darted to the top of the ledge. Still no one. And still no response from either child._ "No." _What? No one said anything! What the hell...?_ "I don't care. She's of no importance to me." _Wait a second.. Were these two talking to this invisible voice through telepathy? _"The fact that she's here means little. She has no value to us, nor is she any kind of special case." _That would be a yes._ "Do not fight me on this." _Silence._ "Actually, it doesn't matter how nice she was." I _couldn't grasp the full extent of what they were talking about, but I could gather some basic facts: they were talking about me, the mystery voice didn't see me as important, I'm not a __**'special case'**__, and I'm pretty sure the two girls were trying to defend me... Well okay then._ "Leave her in the dark. Kill her. I don't particularly care." _**'Kill me?'**_ _That was it. I don't care if these two never wanted me to talk. If my life is on the line, I'm fucking saying something._

"Don't I get a say in this?" _Worst. Idea. Ever. The girl in black instantly let out a murderous shrill scream. I felt like my ears were bleeding the second it started. The girl in white just sat down with her eyes closed and started murmuring to herself. And in that moment I felt no control of my body or balance or anything. Through it all I could only make out two things happening outside of this; a haunting, dark, feminine laugh, and what appeared to be another person heading towards the girl in black with eyes locked on the girl in white. After those two things became apparent, I fell to the ground, everything blending together. Then nothing._

_How long I was passed out is beyond me. When I started to come to, the first thing that I could feel was a pounding headache. Then the strong taste of iron on my mouth and throat, and then a horrible high pitched ringing in my ears. At first, opening my eyes seemed like a death wish. It wasn't bright, but compared to the pure black I had just been in, it was like someone was shinning the sun right in my face. Slowly I became used to the brightness level and opened my eyes fully. I tried to look around but two things stopped me. One was the sudden wave of nausea that hit me, and the second was a strong voice telling me to stop. I did so immediately and let my head fall back. _

"You shouldn't move for a few more minutes. Your senses are still off and you'll just end up hurting yourself, Maka." _The voice was definitely a male's, and it was one of those 'I may be saying something as a suggestion, but you're going to fucking do it anyway' voices. My response was really lame, but I couldn't care less at that point._

"Uuugghh..okay." _I closed my eyes and tried to relax._ _**'Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths.'**_ _They started helping and soon I felt a little better. The ringing had subsided and my headache was long gone. The nausea wasn't nearly as bad either which was good. The only thing I needed now was water. A lot of water. I stayed still a little while longer before I sat up slowly, and I was happy when it worked. _

"Feeling better all ready?" _I turned my head to the voice and just gawked. Why on earth was arguably the most attractive man I'd ever seen sitting in this godforsaken place? And why was he holding the little girl in black? His hair, a flat black color, was messy; some falling in his face, and was kind of long. Well, to like his mid neck if it all just laid flat I guess.. And his skin was flawless. No scars, no blemishes, nothing but pale, spotless flesh. His eyes were an ice blue color that just pierced your soul too. He had on a black wifebeater and black pants, and oddly enough no shoes. His shirt showed off his finely developed arms and through the fabric you could make out his not too shabby chest. I realized he was just staring at me, waiting for a response._

"Oh um, yes! Much better actually..."

"Good to hear." _And then I realized I was talking without interruption. I looked accusingly at the girl in black. This boy seemed to read my mind, because he answered my exact question._ "She's in a state of unconsciousness."

"You mean she's asleep?"

"Uh..sure." _Okay.._

"So what exactly happened earlier? Why did she and the other girl freak out like that? And who was that talking before?"

"Well...you spoke. That's what happened. You did it so quickly, and neither girl could stop you. They had you stay silent for a reason, idiot_." Oh yeah, that makes sense. Because I totally knew they'd have psychotic break downs from the sound of my voice._

"Why did they react like that?"

"Because you're a human. A strange human at that."

"What's so _**strange**_ about me? I'd like to think I'm pretty normal.. And why does being human matter? They're human! You're human!"_ When I was met with silence, I just stared at him in confusion. They were all human...right?_

"When I say strange, I mean a miester. And your soul...it isn't the kind they've been exposed to. Grigori souls are a little too strong for their young age." _I stared blankly at him._

"You can see my soul?"

"Well yeah.. You don't have any kind of soul protect on or anything..."

"Ohh...right.." _The silence that followed was heavy. I was about to speak again when the boy rose up, the little girl still in his arms. He silently walked to the ledge like I wasn't even there anymore and just dropped her. I could hear the loud thud she made when she hit the ground._ _**'The hell? He was just cradling her like she was his child...how could he just drop her like that?'**_ _It was then that the room got colder. Much much colder. Goosebumps rose on my skin and I started shivering. I looked around and noted a strange dark fog appearing around the room. It looked like shadows in gas form. My eyes found their way back to the two figures, and I was again, confused. The little girl was gone, and the boy was now standing with his back to the ledge (leaning against it), arms crossed, and eyes locked on me. The newfound look in his eyes instantly had me on alert. He looked at me the way a predator would its prey, and it was starting to creep me out. _

"Stop." _There was that voice again! I would have been irritated at how secretive this person was, but in that moment I was just thankful. The boy seemed to follow that command in a heartbeat, his eyes drifting away from me and towards the empty space beside me. I relaxed a bit and looked around, yet again._

"Who are you? And where the hell am I?" _I was met with silence._ _**'The people here need to get some social skills..' **__I just yelled again. _"I swear to Death! Tell me where I am and why I'm here and who the hell you are or I'll-"

"You'll what? Cry? Pout? You're in no position to be making demands, my dear." _And they had a solid point. I didn't know where I was, I was tired, I didn't have Soul with me, and I could swear I felt like my energy was slowly going.. I took a different approach to try and get information._

"Please...? Just let me go back to the lodge? I don't need to know anything! I won't say anything to anyone at all. I just want to go home..." _Oohh how humiliating this felt. Begging wasn't something I did very well... Well at least not if I was being pressured too. The voice just laughed._

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"Wha- What? Uhm, yes.. Because it's true!"

"As much as you want to leave here, you also want answers. You want a valid explanation. And you'd tell everyone you trusted about this place.." _Suddenly the black fog within the room started to gather at the top of the ledge. It swirled and combined and became more solid looking within seconds, almost resembling a blobby portal of shadows. I noticed out of the corner of my eye the boy exit in something almost identical. __**'So it is a portal... Hmph, but why does he get to leave?'**_ _Again my gaze went up. The blob started to become more condensed and tighten around itself, and it was beginning to resemble that of a person. I instinctively backed away. Soon the shadows faded and I, once again, was stunned. Atop the solid black ledge sat a woman. She was hauntingly beautiful, having long, slightly wavy, dark gray hair and pale, perfect looking skin. Her hair covered her eyes completely and parted only over her nose and mouth. It went to where I was assuming her belly button to be if she were to stand up. She wore a fitting yet loose dress that was a worn ivory color, and it went to right below her knees. She also didn't have shoes on._ _**'What is it with people here and not wearing shoes?'**_ _I couldn't see her eyes, but I felt them on me. I started speaking again._

"I want answers, yes... But if I had to choose between getting those or leaving, I would choose the latter."

"Ah, finally an honest answer leaves your lips." _I flushed a deep red._ _**'How the heck does someone respond to that? And I never lied! I was just...unsure of what I was saying before.'**_ _I_ _was glad when she continued speaking. It saved me the trouble of stammering and struggling to explain myself._ "This place... holds everything and nothing, all at once. I'm sure you've heard of the Realms of Darkness and Light? The Realm of Darkness holds nothing. No light, no life, only shadows. Nothing beneficial to mankind. The other holds no dark, death, and only light. Many says it's everything a person needs to live."

"Wait, I don't follow... What does that have to do with where we are right now?"

"We're in the middle of the two. They hold two much power to be contained to one specific place. Everything that leaks out leaks to here. It's a realm between realms. Though it not only absorbs the other two's runoff, it also keeps them balanced."

"I never knew of a realm between the two...or that people could actually live in them.."_ The woman above me scoffed._

"People cannot live in them. They can only be exposed to so much before death takes them. It's far too much raw power."

"But you and the boy and those two little girls-"

"Are not human."

"Then what.. What are you?" _A wicked smile spread across her lips and I shivered. Her teeth bore a striking resemblance to Soul's: sharp. Only this woman's teeth were smaller, sharper, and I'm fairly certain there were more than what a mouth should have._

"We're nothing." _I was about to ask what that meant, but I didn't get a chance. My voice was gone. Completely gone. I couldn't speak or anything. The shadows that had made the woman appear started coming into view again, crossing over her and pieces of her started disappearing from view. I began backing when they spilled over towards me. Some caught me ankles and immobilized me while others climbed over my body. I tried to scream, to get away from them, but I couldn't. Realizing I wasn't getting away, I squeezed my eyes shut and readied myself for the worst. '_

"Maaaakkaaaaa! Get up!" Maka shot up at the sudden banging and loud voice. Looking around, she saw that she was in her bed, under the covers, back at the lodge. Her body was covered in sweat, and her breathing was erratic. Her green eyes went to the alarm clock. _**8:45**_was in bright red letters.

"What that hell?" Her mind cleared when the knocking on the door picked up again.

"Maka! Come on, the lodge just put out breakfast!" Knowing that voice instantly Maka took a breath.

"Go on a head, Soul. I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Alright then." His footsteps faded down the hall and she just sighed, falling back on the mattress. Her mind went back to her 'dream'.

"Was that actually real? Or am I losing it? It felt real, but...there's no way I somehow landed in that creepy place!" Maka thought to what that strange woman had said about the place. "I know Lord Death had mentioned the Realms of Light and Dark before during a lesson, but never has a realm between them ever come up... And what was with that whole _'this place keeps the balance'_? ARRGHH! This doesn't make any sense..." Sighing, the blonde threw the covers off of herself and stood up. "There's no use getting all worked up over it now." She headed to the bathroom with her outfit for the day in her hands.

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><p>Okay, s-uuuhhhh-weett. All done! Back to the super long breaks between updates! (;<p>

I hope if you have some praise or constructive critisism for this story that you will post it! I don't need long reviews (though they are nice), short ones are always lovely tooo! Okay, tis all friends!

Dueces.


	10. A Small Town Secret

HI HI HI! I'm back my lovely readers! Sorry. I've been really busy this summer. And I was totally gonna update sooner buy then my iPad broke and that's I'm writing this story on it with the app A Novel Idea (get it. It freaking rocks. The non-free version is slightly better, but it'ssame some either way. GREAT way to organize characters and ideas and stories!)

Then I learned I can now upload my stories FROM MY IPAD. THAT'S SO CONVINEINT. I'd be expecting faster updates from me nowww(:

OKAY, SO, THATS ALL WITH THAT.

Oh yeah, SO GUESS WHO'S 18TH BIRTHDAY WAS ON JULY 23RD? THIS GIRL'S! I'm a fucking adult now. Shit.

ENJOY THE STORY.

I do not own Soul Eater

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><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 10**

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><p>"How long does it take her to get up?"<p>

"Calm down, she'll be here soon!" Sierra grumbled and hit Lance on the head. He'd been whining for an hour straight about how long it was taking Maka to get ready. Soul had gone to get her after he first started complaining but showed up minutes later alone. Sierra looked to the albino.

"Please tell me she's almost ready?" He just shrugged.

"She probably had to take a shower. That's the most time consuming thing she does, so she should be out here soon."

"Wait, why does it matter? Ember isn't down here yet. Actually, Trace is the only one who has come down besides you two..."

"**HA**. Ember being ready before 12? Wishful thinking. Hunter is probably trying to get her up. And actually, Kiara has probably been up and about for awhile now." Liz looked quizzically to Sierra and Lance. She was about to ask yet again about why it was such a big deal that Maka wasn't here yet when both Ember and Hunter were still no shows as well, but stopped when she saw Maka emerge from the hall.

"Maka's here!" Patti announced loudly. The others turned and greeted her. When Maka sat down, Soul pushed over a plate of food. She thanked him and ate it quietly and just listened while the others decided on who should go where and ask about what.

"I know Ember isn't going to want to go out into the cold, so I say we let her screw around here today." They all nodded, not seeing any reason to argue with Sierra.

"Patti and I can go to some of the shops with older owners. Old people always seem to love Patti, so maybe that will make them tell us something." The older brunette nodded.

"It's worth a shot." She looked to Kidd. "I think you should talk to this town's Mayor. Maybe he'll be more forth coming with information since you're Lord Death's son."

"Okay."

"Me and Hunter can go to the bar. I saw its blinking light last night." Lance was met with a grumble.

"Do **NOT** let him drink anything." She turned her attention to Chrona. "Hmm.. I'm not sure where to send you.. Or Black Star for that matter." The blue haired boy spoke up.

"I'll be training today! I need to get used to fighting in this cold." Lance looked at him.

"That's actually a really good idea.. Okay, you and Tsubaki can train. Chrona?" Said boy looked at him. "Do you wanna go train with them? It's your choice."

"S-sure.." Sierra looked at Soul and Maka?

"What about you guys? It's your call on what you wanna do." Soul just shrugged.

"Well, I was planning on just staying here and asking employees and guests about the situation." Sierra nodded.

"Okay. Ember can snoop and you can get lip service." She looked at Maka. "What about you?" No answer. "Maka?" Maka was staring at her empty plate, completely zoned out.

"Maka!" Soul nudged her roughly as he said her name loudly. She jumped up, completely startled.

"W-what? Oh, um, I actually think I'd like to go with Kidd and speak with the Mayor. If that's no trouble."

"I'm fine with you coming with me."

"Okay, great! Now we've all got something to keep us occupied for the day." Tsubaki looked to the older brunette.

"What exactly are Trace and Kiara going to be doing?" Sierra shrugged and stood up.

"I have no idea what Trace is going to do today or this whole week, but I know Kiara will be working on finding out where that witch is hiding out." With that she turned and exited towards the elevators. Lance sat back in his seat and looked at the younger group. None of them showed signs of getting up anytime soon.

"Uh, so are you all planning on telepathically asking your questions? The people here have work to do, and you guys interrupting midday won't help get anything useful from them. And if you don't claim a training area now, you may have to fight a bear or two for one..." They all flashed red and got up swiftly, hurrying to their rooms for warmer clothing. Except for Soul, who just went to get more food. When he came back he heard a soft chuckle from the blonde boy across from him.

"What?" The older male just shook his head.

"Nothing... It's just that that's your sixth plate. Aren't you even remotely full?" Soul just shrugged and stuffed more food in his mouth. He chewed quickly before answering.

"Not at all. My stomach is like a bottomless pit. Hahaha Maka always yells at me cause I eat so much. She says she's gonna stop paying for everything and make me buy it myself cause of how much her trips to the grocery store cost."

"Sounds like Sierra. Between the six of us, she spends like, 300 plus dollars when she goes to get groceries." Soul's mouth fell open.

"Three hundred dollars? That's sounds like so much food... And you all eat all of it?" Lance nodded.

"Heh, yeah! Every single crumb. But it's annoying, Sierra always complains about spending all that money but whenever I tell her I'll pay for it one week or give her enough for everything I want she always insists that it's not necessary."

"Women..." Lance sighed.

"Heard that." The pair continued to chat and laugh for awhile until they stopped at the sound of yelling. Lance groaned. "Really? It's like 10:30 and they're already having a pissing match?" Soul raised a white brow.

"Who? Sierra and Hunter?"

"I wish...that would be way easier to break up. It's Ember and Hunter." He looked at Soul completely. "When those two get into a fight, it lasts for at least a solid day. And it **ALWAYS** involves them hitting each other.."

"Hunter hits Ember?"

"HA. Like she gives him the chance. Soul, she abuses him... See, Ember can get really infuriated at the smallest things and she has a nasty tendency to take it out on Hunter. She even admits that she starts it all. And she admits that she does most, if not all, of the hitting." Soul almost chocked.

"Are you serious?" Lance nodded. Both boys turned when they heard the yelling get even louder. Within seconds Hunter came through into the lobby area with his hands deep in his jean's pockets and a scowl on his face. There was a new bruise on his cheek and he had scratches all over his arms.**_ 'How did he get those? They look like cuts that you'd get from a knife or something like that...'_**Seconds later a fuming Ember appeared. There wasn't a hair out of place or any kind of bruising on her, but she seemed a hundred times more pissed than Hunter.

**"YOU ARE SUCH A DOUCHE!"**

"..."

**"LIKE WHAT KIND OF FUCKING ASSHOLE PULLS A MOVE LIKE THAT? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! EVERY FUCKING TIME YOU SAY YOU WON'T DO THAT, YOU TURN AROUND AND FUCKING DO IT! EVERY FUCKING TIME!"**

"..."

**"SO NOW YOU AREN'T EVEN GONNA FUCKING ANSWER ME?"** The petite girl stomped her foot down in pure rage. She grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a very expensive looking vase, and hurled it at the older boy. **"GO BURN IN HELL, ASSHOLE."** The vase made direct contact with Hunter's lower back and he cringed harshly at the sudden, sharp pain that shot through him.

**"FUCK!"** He turned and saw that it had shattered into a hundred tiny pieces and that the girl who threw it was gone. "I swear to Death she's fucking insane..." He turned when he heard a loud laugh that was sharply covered. He glared at the two boys. "Enjoy the show?"

"What the hell did you do to get her to throw a vase at you?" Hunter came over to them and collapsed on a nearby couch.

"I don't even know.. She just freaked out on me and started punching me for no reason." Lance sent him an accusing look.

"There's always a reason. Seriously man, she threw a vase at you... Why?" The brunette's dark eyes went to the ground. "That bad?"

"Yeah.. I don't see her being over it for a few days."

"Now you need to tell me what you did!" Hunter groaned. His eyes went to Soul and the younger boy started to stand up.

"I'm gonna head up to my room and get a shower. I'll see you guys later."

"Alright, later Soul." Hunter just waved him off. Lance turned his focus back to his friend. "Okay, start explaining."

"She walked in on me and this hot maid. I was wasted as fuck too, just to add insult to injury." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Ember is fuming about it because she had made the comment last night that she didn't like her. Like, she actually said _'You can fuck any maid but her.'_ And what do I do? Get shit faced and fuck the maid she didn't want me to." Lance shook his head.

"Wow...all of my pity just disappeared after hearing that. You're actually hopeless..."

"Yeah, I know." Hunter put his head down and groaned loudly. "How do I fucking fix this?" Lance just shrugged.

"I seriously could not tell you..."

"Well what do you usually do when my sister gets pissed at you?" Lance thought for a second.

"Uhhh... Cook her dinner? I mean, she gets mad at me for like, leaving the toilet seat up and other stupid shit like that... It's not really comparable to your situation at all."

"Well fuck." Lance cocked his head to the side.

"Have you tried apologizing? Or did you just start yelling back at her?" Hunter lifted his head weakly.

"Huhh... The second one..."

"Maybe you should try saying sorry. Give her the day to cool off and screw around here, and then tonight just take her aside and apologize for fucking up. Again."

"I really hate when you have good ideas." Lance just laughed. Moments later, Sierra came into the lobby with Patti, Chrona, and Tsubaki. She handed Lance his snow coat and then turned to her brother.

"What the hell did you do this time? Ember stormed passed us in the hall mumbling 'That bastard is fucking dead. I fucking hate him.' and the slammed the door to MY room shut..." Hunter groaned once again and slammed his head down onto the couch he was laying on. Lance ended up giving a short and vague version of what happened.

"He fucked up. As usually he did what Ember told him not to do and now she's pissed." Sierra sighed.

"When will you learn? Did she kick your ass again?" Hunter lifted his head slightly, allowing his sister to see the new nasty bruise that decorated his cheek. She just laughed. "One day you'll think before you act and you'll wonder why you never did that before." Before Hunter could give her any kind of answer, Sierra headed towards the lodge's door. "Now I'm going to go and ask some of the people who live around here about everything that has happened. I'll see you all later." After receiving some goodbyes, she exited the building. Five minutes after Sierra had left, everyone else started to make an appearance. Liz and Kidd entered and were followed by Black Star, and a few moments later Maka emerged from the side hallway. Black Star immediately started getting Tsubaki and Chrone out the door to train. After they had gone, Liz turned to Patti.

"You ready to go?" Patti faced her older sister.

"**YUPP!** Let's move out!"

"Haha, okay then!" Kidd and Maka headed out at the same time as the Thompson sisters and quickly parted ways to go to the town hall. Liz gave her friend a word of advise before heading out though.

"Try not to take him anywhere but the main destination. He'll start trying to reorganize anything that isn't perfect... And if you see anything that's asymmetric, block it from his view. I'm only saying this because we've never been here before and Kidd gets weird about new places and how symmetrical they look."

"Thanks for the tip, Liz. We'll see you two later."

**"BYYYYEEEE!"** Maka smiled at Patti's loud goodbye. She turned and walked quickly to catch up with Kidd. The two settled into a fast walk, trying to make the trip go quickly since it was cold and they had to go to the opposite side of the town.

"It's larger than I was expecting. Who knew so many people liked living in this unforgiving climate."

"They're all nuts if you ask me." Kidd let out a laugh.

"Agreed." His golden eyes focused on the girl next to him. "Now Maka, why did you want to accompany me to see the mayor? Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it or anything, it's just I would have assumed you would have wanted to go with Liz or stay at the lodge with Soul."

"You know me too well, Kidd. I actually wanted to ask you about something..."

"Hmmm? And what is it?" Maka took a breathe of the ice cold air before speaking.

"Well, okay. This isn't going to make a lot of sense right now, but do you remember that one lesson towards the end of last school year when your father covered the class?" The young shimigami nodded.

"Yes, I remember that. He was explaining to us all of the different beings that have come into existence in order of their power, and the different realms. Why?"

"I was just trying to remember the order he had said and why. I don't know why, but I suddenly just thought about that lesson last night.." She met his gaze. "Would you mind telling me?"

"Ha, uhh, no. Not at all. I'll go weakest to strongest. The weakest of all beings are humans. They have no unusual abilities or powers. After that would be Kishin Eggs because although they're powerful, they're undeveloped and more vulnerable. The next three will mostly depend on /Miester pairs, Witches, and full blown Kishins, for obvious reasons. Then it would be Shimigamis like my father and myself. Guardians are the next most powerful, though they keep within their own realm and don't leave it, thinking no one else is worthy of their presence. They could cause a lot of deaths if they did come to our world. Above them are the beings of Light and Dark. Only one of each can be in existence at one time, and they keep the balance of the two elements. And they do all of that without ever needing to leave their realms." Maka nodded, taking in all of that information. She remembered most of it from when Lord Death had said it, but she had forgotten about the Guardians.

"Speaking of the realms..."

"Yes?"

"Has your father ever mentioned a realm between realms?" Kidd stopped abruptly at the question and stared at Maka. She turned back and cast him a questioning look. "What?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna take that as a no.." Kidd continued walking. He thought for quick moment.

"Sorry Maka, but I've never heard of a realm between realms... And my father has never mentioned it before. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason.. I was just reading this book a few weeks ago and it mentioned it once or twice.. I don't know why but I just thought of it yesterday."

"I see. What book was this?"

"Uhmm, I actually do remember.. Sorry." Kidd chuckled.

"It's fine. If you happen to think of it, do let me know. I'd like to have a look at it." Maka nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!"

* * *

><p><strong>With Ember<strong>

* * *

><p>"Okay, so this leads to the laundry room too..." Ember backtracked her steps and ended up in a back hallway. She looked to the three doors she'd already went through and shook her head. "These people really like going to the laundry room." She headed down the empty hallway quietly and stopped at a red metal door. It had a sign that said something in Russian, and then a giant black <strong>'X'<strong> underneath it. "Ooooo, this door looks promising." She went for the handle, only to find it was locked and required a key. She laughed quietly to herself. "Psssshhhh. They couldn't have made this any easier." After looking around the hall to make sure no one was around, she lowered her finger to the keyhole. In a flash of light, it morphed into a long pointed needle. She moved her other hand down and her middle finger changed into the same long needle as her right pointer. She worked them around until she heard a click. Without a word, the red velvet haired girl slipped in and closed the door. Once it closed she turned to see where she had ended up.

It was a dimly lit, small space. Nothing was in it except an old throw rug and the three overhead lights that were dying by the second. "Hmm... No way. There wouldn't be a heavy door like that if this was just some empty closet. And it wouldn't be locked." She crouched to the ground and examined the rug. "And a trap door would be waayy to easy." She stood and looked up. The lights flickered on and off, and their wiring was loose. Very loose. "Hmm.. Could it be?" She turned and saw a light switch and It was in the on position. She stepped towards it and flicked it down. When that happened, the lights didn't turn off. She heard loud gears moving from somewhere beneath the floor and after a few seconds, the wooden square started going down. "**YES!** Just like Brody's hang out!" The walls went from being wooden to being dirt and the floor sunk lower and lower. She watched as the light's wires started to tighten up, causing the lights to get brighter. After five minutes, a tunnel's entrance came into view. When the floor stopped at the bottom, Ember noted another light switch, only this one was in the down position.

Lookimg ahead, she saw that the tunnel was all hard rock and dirt. There were pipes that shot out of it overhead and went into the sides or back up at the top, and some were dripping water. Most had duct tape wrapped around them. The light's that lined it were bright and seemed to all be on the same wire as the ones from the elevator. Quietly she walked off the wooden floor, onto a damp dirt ground, and down the now brightly light passageway. She came to an old wooden door and heard loud mechanical moans and groans on the other side of it. There was no lock on it or handle. Embed pushed it opened and let out a whistled. "Well helloo! What have we got here?"

* * *

><p><strong>With Patti and Liz<strong>

* * *

><p>"Okay, so that was the eighth store owner who <strong><em>'Had no idea there had been attacks or disappearances.'<em>** Ugh!" Patti looked to her sister.

"Wasn't it her son that went missing too?"

"Yes, it was. Which makes this even more frustrating. That, and the fact that her story was the same exact one the other seven had told! There were no differences in them whatsoever!" Liz grumbled. "It all seemed too rehearsed to me.." Patti nodded in agreement. "Let's see if the town's butcher has anything different to tell us." The two continued down the snow covered road until they saw their desired building. When Liz opened the door a bell rang out and echoed throughout the small front area of the shop. Liz went to the front counter and hit the small bell on it. While she did that, Patti examined the display case. "Hello? Anybody here?"

"Heey Liz, check this out. The food in here smells really old and rotten." Liz walked over to where Patti was and instantly covered her nose.

"Eww! That smells horrible! Hasn't this guy ever heard of throwing old stuff out?" She took a few steps back and looked around. "Where the hell is he anyway? This shop isn't that big..." Her eyes landed on a wooden door. "Oh, maybe he's in the back.. Heh. Okay Patti, stay up here, I'll go check back there."

"Hehe roger that sis!" Patti took to looking at the things in the isles. Liz carefully opened the door leading to the back and poked her head in. When she saw no one was in there she entered it and flipped on a light switch. It was a small room with tools hanging up on the walls and boxes all over the place. Right across from her was a big metal door. She walked over to it and opened it. Immediately she felt the room's coldness escape towards her and she shivered. Liz once again stuck her head inside first and this time, she nearly gagged. Right in the middle of the floor was a half cut up bison, the butcher's knife was still lodged in its neck. Hanging from the ceiling were six headless chickens, and on a side table were four skinned rabbits. Blood stained the walls and floor, and the stench was unbearable. Liz quickly retreated from the cold room and headed back to the front. She saw Patti still looking at random merchandise. "Well, there's nobody here.."

"Why wouldn't he at least put up a closed sign or something?"

"I'm not sure..." At that moment Patti's stomach growled loudly. Liz smiled softly. "But I guess there's no use sticking around here. Come on, we passed a bakery on the way here." The two quickly exited the shop and headed back down the road. Their pace was fast and in a few minutes they reached their destination. When they walked in they were immediately met with the smells of freshly baked pastries and breads. As the Thompson sisters looked around for a place to sit, they heard a soft voice call them. When they looked, they saw Sierra sitting in a booth by the window.

"Hey Sierra." The two walked over to her and sat across from the brunette.

"What brings you two here? All done talking to the store owners?" Liz groaned.

"We only talked to eight of them.. The butcher was a no show at his own store, and the eight we talked to had the exact same stories. Hardly any differences between them."

"Let me guess; it was all really rehearsed and they said they had no knowledge of anything that was happening."

"Uh.. Yeah actually. How'd you-"

"Same thing happened to me. Every family and local I talked to had the exact same story. Call me crazy, but I think they're being coached."

"But I don't understand why.. You'd think they'd want our help. So why lie about it and try to cover it up now?" Patti, who'd been finishing Sierra's cinnamon roll, entered the conversation.

"Maybe everyone here has something or someone else to be afraid of? Something scarier than the witch and her monsters?" Liz and Sierra looked blankly at the younger girl.

"Patti... That would actually make so much sense!"

"Yeah, but that would mean that someone who holds a lot of power over these people would ave to be responsible for it."

"Isn't the most powerful person in most towns the ma-hmmmphh-" Liz was stopped mid word by Sierra shoving her hands over her mouth.

"**SHHHHH!** Not here! We'll talk about it tonight when we all regroup in Kiara's room. Got it?" Liz just nodded. "Okay. Sorry about that..."

* * *

><p><strong>With Kiara<strong>

* * *

><p>Kiara sat on the lodge's roof clad in black athletic shorts and a black tank top. Her dark eyes were glazed over and she was mumbling incoherent words and phrases. Below her was a black circle that seemed to be alive and moving.<p>

_**"V zasneženej krajine, bude čarodejnice vyniknúť. Jej zlá duša sa nikdy miešať s bielou. Nájsť jej temnotu, vyhľadajte jej zášti. Cez hory a rieky, ona nemôže byť skryté.. Nič sa nemôže schovať pred Nič sa veľkým okom. To všetko vidí. Nemôže to byť zavádzajúce. Zlo duše, odhaliť sami. Prekliata duša, ukáž mi svoje miesto. Prekliata duša, bude vám odhalí svoju stopu. Nič si ťa nájde, a nič je to, čo sa stane. Tento osud bol napísaný a tak to musí byť vykonané."**_ Her eyes closed and opened sharply, only this time they were completely dark grey. The black circle beneath her expanded tremendously and then without warning, sharply contracted and disappeared. Slowly her eyes shut and when they opened again they were their normal dark color. "Hmph, found you, bitch." Kiara sat on the snow covered roof for a few more minutes just watching the small flurries that started to fall. She extended her hand out and examined the ones that landed on her palm. They melted almost instantly against her warm skin.

"You're going to catch a cold if you keep coming up here in those clothes." She turned her head slightly to address her weapon.

"We both know that's not true. And aren't you supposed to be doing something productive?" Trace walked to her and put a heavy coat over her shoulders.

"I am doing something productive. Making sure you don't catch pneumonia." Kiara scoffed lightheartedly.

"Because you really care that much."

"It doesn't matter if I care or not. If you get sick, you'll be less useful." He moved next to her and crouched down. "So you found the witch?"

"Mhmm. She's in the mountains. Actually, to be more accurate, she's under the mountains. There most be some underground passages and caves that she's made home. It'd be warmer under there so she wouldn't have to worry about the cold or having a fire." Trace raised an eyebrow.

"How would it be warmer underground?"

"Not a clue. But it is." He shook his head at her answer.

"Well, that's about as convincing as a person can get.." She didn't bother to answer him and instead stood up.

"I'm going to get some food. Coming?" Trace turned his gaze to the mountains.

"No." She nodded and wordlessly went back through the door leading inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Later. Around 8 o'clock. (It was like, 6 when Kiara went to get food. Everyone took their grand old time snooping and talking to people. Yeeeaaaahhh.)<strong>

* * *

><p>The group was once again gathered in Kiara's room. Everyone had something to share, but by that point, no one had said anything. They had been waiting for an hour for Ember to show up, and Kiara made it clear nothing would be said until the redhead arrived.<p>

"Where is she? This lodge can't be that difficult to navigate.." Sierra and Lance both signed at Liz's statement.

"It could be one floor and she'd still find a way to take the whole day to explore it." The group groaned collectively, except for Trace and Kiara.

"Can't someone just fill her in with what she missed later?" She looked to Kiara, directing the question to her specifically. The older girl was silent and after a few seconds closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath.

"Fine. If it gets you all to stop complaining." The dark haired girl looked to Hunter, who was once again sprawled out on her bed. "Hunter, make sure Ember gets informed." He huffed.

"Yeah yeah, I will." After receiving his answer, Kiara took a seat next to the fireplace. She have Sierra and Lance a look that told them to take over.

"Okay, so today we all did something to find things about the attacks and anything that could help with this situation. We need to start connecting that information."

"I say that we start with the surrounding area. Black Star, Tsubaki, and Chrona, wanna tell us about the area you trained at?" Black Star jumped to his feet when Lance asked that.

**"OF COURSE!"** Tsubaki placed a hand on her miester's shoulder.

"Would you share a little quieter? There are other people at the lodge.." Black Star's face turned bright red.

"Heh, um, sure! Okay, so we ended up going towards the way we came into town. Probably like, 15 minutes away. It was really cold, there was a lot of snow, and we didn't have any kind of delays or interruptions." Tsubaki added on to what her partner said.

"I noticed that as we walked, the snow's depth increased significantly. The temperature seemed to drop even lower too." Black Star and Chrona nodded in agreement with her. More minor details started to be stated by Tsubaki and Black Star, but a fact that seemed to even catch Kiara's interest was brought up by Chrona.

"I don't know how important this is, but Ragnorok and I noticed that the whole time we were all out there, there wasn't a sign of any kind of life. Not a single animal came to investigate and there were no far off noises from birds or anything.."

"Well, that's really something." Tsubaki looked to Kiara.

"Why?"

"Because, no matter how timid or scarce, the wildlife makes itself known somehow. The fact that nothing made an appearance, even 15 minutes in the wrong direction, means there's something around here to be afraid of." Maka raised an eyebrow.

"Wrong direction? What do you mean by that?"

"We'll get to that, Princess." She huffed at her answer and glared at Kiara. Sierra quickly got back on track to try and stop any kind of yelling from starting.

"Lance, Hunter? What did you two find out at the bar?" Hunter lifted his head slightly to answer.

"That your boyfriend is a little bitch." Lance glared.

"You're just pissed that you couldn't get any kind of alcohol." He turned to Sierra. "Only one guy in the whole bar would give us an answer. He said that these monsters have been coming into town on specific days at specific times, and that they always seem to be looking for a specific person. They ignored 10 people who tried to make them leave just to get the first kid they took."

"Or so he says. The guy was an old delusional drunkard. He was talking to himself when we approached him."

"I'd say it's more than what we learned.." Everyone turned their attention to Liz.

"We talked to eight store owners and they all had the exact same stories. They claimed to know nothing of the monsters or the disappearances, which was obviously a load of crap because the food store owner's son was taken by those monsters. And then when Patti and I went to see if the town's butcher had anything to say, he wasn't even there."

"Yeah, the display case's meat smelled really bad." Sierra sighed.

"I had about as much luck as them... All of the people who lived here would either claim to know nothing or just slam the door in my face. A few people didn't even answer the door when I knocked." As an afterthought she added what Patti had said at the bakery. "We have a feeling that someone who has a lot of power of these people is scaring them into silence." Liz nodded.

"Yeah. And the most powerful person in small towns like this tends to be the mayor..."

"I'd buy that."

"I wouldn't." Kidd cleared his throat before continuing. "Though that is usually the case, I don't think that this town's mayor is forcing everyone into silence. When Maka and I went to speak with him, he seemed terrified. He was tripping over his words and tried to get us out of his office as quickly as he could. When we asked about the monsters, he acknowledged the issues, but he claimed it was _**'under control'**_ and not to worry. I think his situation is much like the rest of the town's.."

"Well there goes that theory.. But then who could be forcing their silence? There's no one more powerful."

"Maybe the witch herself is?"

"Maka may be right.. The mayor and everyone else would be in no position to go against her now." Lance turned his gaze from Sierra to Soul.

"What did the employees say?"

"Nothing helpful. They're just as scared as the rest of the town. The guests that I talked to were too. No one would say anything other than 'I have no idea what you're talking about' or 'sorry, but I can't help you'." Hunter groaned loudly.

"So basically this is one giant mystery, no one will help us, and we have nothing to go on except this witch is running everything." Sierra and everybody else's heads dropped.

"Basically."

"So I guess I was the only one who had any luck?" The room looked up and over to the door at the new voice.

"What took you so long?" Ember moved from the door way and over to the windowsill.

"Oh nothing, just hitting the jackpot with clues. Did you guys know that 80% of the '_employees only'_ doors in this place lead to the laundry room? And that 19% lead to the kitchen?" When she was met with blank stares she continued. "It's that one percent that really throws you for a ride." Kiara smirked.

"I take it you found a dirty little secret?"

"Only the dirtiest." She paused for a second before explaining her findings. "This place has an underground elevator. It's behind a big red locked door."

"What in the world is an underground elevator?"

"Well, my dear Kidd, and underground elevator is an elevator that goes underground. The lights on the ceiling usually have extremely loose wiring and are painfully dim, and the light switch is normally always in the upright position. If you flip it down, the first thing you notice are the obnoxious sounds from the gears below. The floor goes down and the wiring started to tighten. This causes the lights to get brighter. Once you reach the bottom, the lights are bright enough to diminish the darkness below and the light switch at the bottom is in the down position." Kidd nodded in understanding and Ember continued. "Anyways, at the bottom of this underground elevator is a tunnel. Down that tunnel is a wooden door. Beyond that wooden door is one massive generator that supplies light to the entire town. And that's not all. I didn't notice it at first, but there's a wire that goes down a crawl tunnel and towards the mountains. I'd bet money that it goes to where this witch is hiding."

"Whoa, nice find.. So this witch is threatening to take their only source of power. No wonder no one will talk."

"Um.. I didn't say the witch is doing anything like that..." Lance looked at her confused.

"But you just said-"

"That a wire goes to the mountains, I know. But it's not some control wire. It looked like an add on. Think of it like this; your neighbor's car breaks down so you jump start it for them. That wire is only supplying whoever is at the receiving end with power. They can't control when they get it or how much they get."

"Wait, so they're giving the witch power? What?" Ember shook her head in annoyance.

"Stop putting words in my mouth and let me finish! On the generator is a specially designed keyhole. It's not something that just anyone can use. The wires can only be added to code protected slots. That means only a specific person would have the key and the codes." Understanding washed over everyone. Kidd voiced the others' thoughts.

"So whoever has these items is the one making everyone keep quiet. And what's worse is that they're aiding the witch, if she is infact hiding underground. But who?"

"Anyone speak Russian?" Hunter's muffled response followed Ember's question.

"Why?"

"Because there's something written on the door in Russian. But I don't think it said employees only, because it looked different from the doors that had that on them." More groans. Of course none of them could speak the needed language.

"Look at the bright side. We now know for sure where the witch is hiding out." Kiara's statement re-caught everyone's attention.

"You found her?"

"Of course I found her. Ember was spot on with her assumption. The witch is taking refuge under the mountains." She looked to Maka. "Which is why I was saying it was too quiet in the wrong direction. The way we came into town is going away from the mountains, which means that there should be a sense of normality with the wildlife in that direction. Because there wasn't we should assume that there's definitely something around here to be wary of, whether it's the witch, her monsters, or something else." Maka just gave a weak nod.

"**SWEET!** That means we can go take her down tomorrow!" Trace shot Black Star's outburst down in an instant.

"No we can't. We still need to figure out who's aiding her." Kiara nodded in agreement.

"We also need to find out if this mystery person is under her control, working along side her willingly, or somehow has her under their influence. Then there's the matter of the missing people. From what Lord Death had said, it's that one kid. But as of now, 2 people." Tsubaki cast her a confused look.

"Two? Who's the second?"

"The butcher. I doubt he'd abandon his shop for no reason."

"She's probably right. The meat smelled days old. And in the back there was a half cut up bison.. Who knows how long that had been laying in the cold storage." Ember stretched out and yawned.

"Hmmmm, so what's the plan for tomorrow? We can't do anything else tonight."

"First thing is first, we find out what that door says. Then we repay a visit to the mayor." They all agreed with that plan for now, and moments later Kiara began to kick them all out. As the group headed down the hall and to their desired rooms, they couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

* * *

><p>ALRIGHT! So that's chapter 10. (: okay, I have to go to work for like, 4 hours, so I'll upload a few morechapters later! Be on the lookout!(:<p>

Rightoh, so that jibberish Kiara is speakingIan is Slovak. I just typed random little phrases about mountains and hiding being found and shadows. Next time I will have the exact thing I typed! Hope you all enjoyed this! Be back soon!

Mwaaaahh!


	11. A Sorry And A Song

As promisedd! Chapter 11!

It's short, but brings about even more complications for our lovely group of weapons and miesters. There's even little moments with some of my OC's! How cute. Lololol.

And yeah, I know, there hasn't been a lot of romance of anything, but it'll start happening eventually. I promise! I'm just setting some shit up right now.

Alright, on another note: TAKE MY POLL. Please. Seriously. I don't know if Maka, Tsubaki, or Liz should get some kind of other possible romantic possibility. Cause they aren't all getting it. SO FUCKING PICK ONE. Kthanks(:

ON TO THE STORY!

* * *

><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 11**

* * *

><p>"Night you guys."<p>

"Night." As Ember said that, the elevator doors shut and she, Chrona, and Hunter went up to the fourth floor. The ride up was quiet and the second the doors opened Chrona exited and headed down the hall. He'd said a quick goodnight to the older two which they returned. Hunter trailed after Ember down the hall, his hands in his pockets. His miester had only spoken to him once after their fight earlier, and that was just to answer his one worded question in Kiara's room. And it was safe to say he wasn't happy with it.

"Are we gonna talk about this?" Without faltering a step or turning around, she answered him.

"Talk about what?" He grumbled and glared at the floor.

"About what happened earlier.." He stopped when he saw her pause. When he looked up he was met with gloomy purple eyes.**_ 'Shiiit.'_**

"Okay, let's talk about it. Let's talk about how you once again drank your weight in booze. Let's talk about how yet again you screwed the **one** girl I said I didn't want you to screw. Pleease explain to me why you always do those two things, every single time I really really need you not too. I'd really fucking love to know." She was met with silence and a downcast gaze. "Exactly. You don't have anything to say about it, and neither do I." She headed down the hall and to her door, and proceeded to pull out her room keys. Until a hand around her arm stopped her. She was about to lose it completely, but never got the chance. She was swiftly pulled into two strong arms and felt a very familiar presence by her ear.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I always pull this shit. I'm sorry I keep fucking up. I know there's nothing that I can say to make everything I did any better.. But I hate hurting you like that, and it truly wasn't my intention. I wish I could give you a reason for always doing this. But I really don't have one. I'm sorry. I'm just.. Really sorry." Ember just stared at her door, her expression held a small amount of shock.

"Hunter...you never apologize.." She squirmed out of his grip and turned to face him. "What the hell?"

"What?"

"What are you tryin to pull? You can't just apologize all wholeheartedly for all of this! Not when I'm trying to stay mad at you!" Hunter smirked slightly.

"Trying to stay mad?" The younger girl huffed and crossed her arms.

"You may be a royal asshole the majority of the time... But you're really hard to say mad at.." His smirk grew wider as his hands moved to her small waist.

"No kidding? Heh, that's pretty nice to know." He lowered his head to her forehead. "So how mad are you right now?"

"Uh-uh-ahhhh, I believe you have a rule specifically stating_** 'no younger girls'**_. Actually, I'm pretty sure you've got one that also says _**'no redheads'**_.." She moved her mouth to his ear. "Sucks to be you right now, doesn't it?" She lightly pushed him back and turned back to her door. "I'll see you tomorrow." She turned the nob, pushing the door opened, and started to walk inside. Halfway through the doorway she paused. Hunter was in the process of unlocking his door when he heard his miester cautiously call his name. "Hunter..." He looked over lazily.

"Yeaah?"

"Why is my door unlocked?"

"Because you unlocked it?" She stepped back and shook her head.

"No..no I didn't. I was about to but then you distracted me. I never put the key in..." In an instant Hunter was in front of her.

"Stay here. Do **NOT** go anywhere else." His arm turned into a long sword blade and he quietly entered her room. The lights were off and he kept them that way. **_'Okay...I'm not feeling any kind of soul or presence in here.'_** Though he felt nothing, he checked the whole room and every closet in it. When it became apparent that no one was in there he exited. "Nothing."

"Hunter, whoever broke into my room did the same to yours.."

"The hell? Why our roo-"

"**SHIT!** Chrona! There's no way this person only went into our rooms." Ember bolted down the hall, Hunter right behind her. They made it to Chrona's room within seconds and found him sitting against the wall across from his door, Ragnorok in weapon from in his hand. Ember kneeled next to him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Y-ye-yes. I went to unlock my door but Ragnorok stopped me. He said something bad was inside.." Hunter looked down to him.

"Did you go in?" The pink haired boy shook his head.

"No. Ragnorok said to stay out here." Hunter turned the nob and entered the room in one swift motion, shutting it behind himself. Embed turned her attention to the odd sword in Chrona's hand.

"Why didn't you want Chrona to go inside?" The mouth on the sword replied with little delay.

"Cause whatever is in there feels like it could eat him in one bite! It's soul was ridiculously fucked up." Ember looked to the closed door. **_'Oh no..' _**She started to stand when Chrona stopped her.

"It's okay. It's not in there anymore. And Hunter is fine." Sure enough after he said that, the door opened and Hunter walked out, the only injuries on him being from Ember.

"Whatever was in there before is gone now. Probably got out through the window."

"D-do you think it went to anyone else's room?"

"Possibly. I'll go check, you two stay in this room. Got it?"

"What? We're coming wi-"

"No. Look, it's almost 11. The staff would definitely notice three of us roaming the halls."

"Okay...but it's kind of common knowledge that I'm a lot better at sneaking around than you.."

"Yeah, and you're also more personable than I am. Stay with Chrona, got it?"

"Fiiine.. Come on, let's get inside your room." With that the two entered the room and shut the door, while Hunter made his way down the hall. He chose the stairs, seeing that they'd be faster and descended to the third floor. After exiting the staircase, he immediately saw Lance carefully peering into his room.

"Hey, someone break into your room too?" Jumping slightly, Lance turned to his friend.

"Dammit, don't do that! And yeah, I went to unlock my door and it was already unlocked. But I'm not getting any kind of feeling of another soul in there.." After a slight pause he posed another question. "Wait, what do you mean _'too'_?"

"Mine, Ember's and Chrona's rooms were all unlocked too. I get the feeling that whoever did the breaking in went from the ground floor up."

"And how do you figure that?" The two boys turned to see Liz and Tsubaki.

"Wait, aren't you on the second floor, Liz?" The blonde in question looked to Lance.

"Yeah, but after I found my room unlocked I got worried and went to check on Patti. She was looking at her lock like it was talking or something because it was unlocked. I remember passing Soul in the hall and his door was the same as the rest of ours. I think he went to check on Maka." Lance nodded. Tsubaki turned back to Hunter.

"So why do you figure that this person worked up the floors?"

"Because, when me and Ember went to check on Chrona, Ragnorok was using present tense in talking about the intruder. When I went in I didn't see anything or anyone, which means they had to have gotten out just before I went in."

"Hm, makes sense. Was everyone okay on your floor?"

"Yeah. No one was in our rooms or anything. How about this floor?" Lance shrugged.

"I'm fine, Tsubaki appears fine, and you said Patti was okay."

"What about Kiara?" Tsubaki answered before the boys had the chance.

"I don't think this person made it to her room. This would have had to have happened while we were all with her, inside of her room."

"She's got a point. Plus nothing sneaks up on that girl. I think it's safe to say she's fine."

"Alright. I say everyone can go back to their own rooms. Or at least avoid the staff." The group nodded and each headed to where they felt they needed to go.

* * *

><p><strong>With Kiara<strong>

* * *

><p>The sound of a door opening quietly was all anyone would need to be put on alert, but Kiara wasn't the least bit concerned.<p>

"So now you're sneaking into my room?"

"No. It was already unlocked." She looked to the dark hallway that the voice was coming from. "Don't you usually lock your doors?"

"Mhmm. Always."

"Did someone try and get in here before? Because everyone else's rooms were all broken into."

"No, Trace. You're the only one who has approached my room in any way since you all left." She felt his weight on the side of her bed. "Whoever broke into the others' rooms has no interest in mine."

"Or maybe they haven't had the chance to get into it." It was a highly possible suggestion. Kiara felt Trace's body heat move right next to her and out of habit moved towards it. She rested her head on his covered chest and traced random patters onto his shirt with her fingers.

"So I take it you're staying?"

"Just in case." A light smile played over her lips. The pair just laid there in silence for what felt like hours, neither feeling tired at all. Trace came to the realization that his miester wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, and he felt a need to address that. "You need to sleep."

"Yeah? Well so do you."

"You know I don't sleep.." She huffed uncharacteristically.

"I know, I know." Kiara moved her head so that she could gaze up at her weapon. She extended her arm, and her fingers lightly ran over the scar that polluted Trace's neck. It started in front of his right ear and extended downward to his the top of his right shoulder, and it was apparent that it never received medical attention after the initial wound was inflicted. As always, Trace's eyes closed. "Will you sing me that song?" His black eyes opened slowly.

"Which one?" Kiara began to softly hum an eerie tune. Trace recognized it immediately and within moments he softly sung to her, his quiet, ruff voice filling the room.

_[**A/N:** Okay, bare with me here. Lalalalala. If you want to get a better idea about how I imagine this: look up the song. That's how Trace basically sounds. The tune Kiara hums is the beginning instumental sounds to the song. I'm really original guys... So enjoy! **(Get Out Alive by Three Days Grace). **Oh yeah, so I cut the end of the song short. Cause it just repeats and repeats and although it's great and all, Trace has no instruments, and random background music doesn't just start playing ever, so because of that I felt it would just be awkward to keep it as it was hahaha. So deal.]_

"No time for goodbye, he said, as he faded away.

Don't put your life in, someone's hands, they're bound to steal it away.

Don't hide, your mistakes.

'Cause they'll find you, burn you.

Then he said

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life.

If you wanna get out alive, hoold on for your life.

This is my last time, she said, as she faded away.

It's hard to imagine but one day, you'll end up like me.

Then she said

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life.

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life.

If I stay, it won't be long, till I'm burning on the inside.

If I go, I can only hope, that I make it to the other side.

If you wanna get out alive, hoold on for your life.

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life.

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life.

Ohh if you wanna get out alive, oh ohh run for you life.

If I stay, it won't be long, till I'm burning on the inside.

If I go, I can only hope, that I make it to the other side.

If you wanna get out alive, hold on for your life."

Trace had felt his miester drift off to sleep in the midst of the song she was so found of. He'd asked her why she enjoyed it so much and her answer had been an unexpected one. The dark haired boy looked to the ceiling and sighed. **_'This mission needs to fucking end.'_**

* * *

><p><strong><em><em>**And I've found a really annoying issue with iPad uploading; I can't do single line breaks )': **NOOOO**. Now the song looks stooooopid.

Okay yeah, it's a lame chapter. But you know what? I liked it. Looksmilks señor Hunter has a thing for Ember.

And Trace sings, very sexually. Lawlz. I'm just gonna warn you guys now that even though this isn't a songfic, people are gonna sing. **NOT ALL THE TIME**, just when I really want them too. Who knows, maybe I'll just make another story in which everyone has to sing for some out there contest. **OH MY GOD NEW STORY IDEA.** Fuuuuckk yeah.

Again, take my poll. Like, just humor meh or something. I'm actually begging. Thanks. Okaayy, **LOVE YOU ALL! Byes.**

**REVIEW PLEEEAASSEE(:**

**Mwaah.**


	12. It All Comes Together

Umm, so I loveeveryone who reviewed so far. You all fucking get me. **THANKS YOU BEAUTIFUL SEXUAL PEOPLE. **Yeah, I had a lot of caffeine like an hour ago and I'm freaking out. Alright, I have little else to say.

See you all at the end of this chapter. (;

* * *

><p><strong>Soul Eater: What Happens Next?<strong>

**Chapter 12**

* * *

><p>When morning arrived, the fourteen weapons and miesters all met in the lobby. They chose the far corner by a big fireplace, as it was furtherest from the front desk and the route most of the maids and other staff walked.<p>

"So all of our rooms were broken into last night, except for Kiara's?" The group nodded at Soul's question. "Was anything missing from any of them?"

"Not from mine."

"Mine either. Everything was exactly where I left it." The rest of them had come to the same conclusion as Maka and Liz, except for Chrona.

"W-well, nothing was missing.. But the room was all messed up. Ember helped me reorganize everything."

"Okay, so whoever got into our rooms only seemed to want something out of Chrona's? That seems kind of odd.." Tsubaki nodded in agreement with Maka. They spitballed ideas for why the invader had done this and came to a few answers: he had only been looking for Chrina's room, he wasn't seeing what he was looking for and got frustrated and took it out on the last room which happened to be Chrona's, he heard Chrona at the door and did the last minute mess to make some obstacles, and so on.

"Honestly I think that Chrona's room was the only one actually broken into." They all looked to Kiara.

"So it's just coincidence that all of our rooms were unlocked? Sorry, but that seems a little unbelievable."

"Not as unbelievable as you'd think. Wanna know why, Princess?" Maka's eyebrow twitched.

"Dazzle me.." Kiara smirked at the girl's attempted mocking.

"My pleasure. I think Chrona's room was the only one broken into because it was the only one trashed. And because my door was unlocked too. Which is odd because after you all left, I locked it from the inside. No one came near my door after you all left except for a staff member, and he was just locking every other door in the hall."

"That's a little weird.." Kiara held a finger up to Ember's lips.

"Not finished. Yesterday morning, before the _'break ins'_, I had woken up at 5 am. I went on autopilot and headed for my door to go out and take a short walk. I didn't try unlocking my door or having the staff open it, but when I turned the nob, the door opened. I'm fairly sure that these doors have trick locks." Ember's eyes twinkled.

"Wow, this place is more like home with every little find..." Kidd sent a suspicious look Ember's way.

"And where exactly is home?"

"Ohhh, you know, where the heart is." She sent him back a triumphant smirk. He just shook his head. Though Ember seemed to know exactly what a trick lock was, the others weren't so knowledgeable.

"There were a bunch of slang terms in New York, but I've never head of a_ 'trick lock'_." Kiara looked to Ember, sending her a look saying _**'explain it to them'**_.

"Righto, a trick lock is basically a non permanent lock. Like, it seems like a lock, but after a certain amount of time the inner workings holding it in the lock position snap back and the door basically unlocks itself. Each model can be made to hold for a specific amount of time too. A lot of crooked locksmiths use them on wealthy customers and just come back when they aren't home and rob em blind. Or in this case, a lodge had them installed because there aren't enough employees. They can't actually come and unlock every door right at 9am."

"Can someone mess with an already installed lock and make a makeshift trick lock?"

"Nope! You've gotta make it all from scratch. It's way too complex to turn an ordinary lock into a trick lock. These doors would all have to have been made specifically with trick locks."

"Well that clears that mystery up. Any chance we can get some food now?" Maka rolled her eyes at Soul. He saw the motion and nudged her softly. "What's that for? I haven't eaten yet today!"

"I'm pretty sure food is the only thing you think about..."

"Pssh, it is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!" The pair continued their childish argument for a few more minutes before one of the others got them to shut up. Sierra got right to what they all needed to spend the day figuring out soon after.

"We know that speaking with the mayor is a priority today, but we don't all need to go. I think he'd feel threatened. Maybe four or five of us go to see him and the others stay here."

"I still need to find out what that sign says, so I'll stay here and do that."

"Not to sound sexist, but I feel like sending only a few of the the girls would go over better."

"I'd have to agree with Hunter. When Maka and I were there yesterday, I couldn't help but notice a picture on the mayor's desk of him, who I'd presume to be his wife, and three young girls. He'd probably feel more obligated to tell a female the truth, or at least have a harder time lying about what we want to know." The others fully agreed with the plan.

"Sierra and Tsubaki are probably two of the most approachable of us all, so I say they should definitely go. And he'll probably feel more comfortable if he sees Maka again."

"Should we have one more go? Just so it's even at the least?" Liz rolled her eyes at Kidd while Lance and Black Star couldn't help but let out amused chuckles. He failed to notice any of that and continued speaking. "Liz, how about you go too?"

"I'd rather stay here...so I think I'll pass." Ember had already eliminated herself from the candidates to go see the mayor, and Patti stated she was going to stay with Liz at the lodge. Kidd's head hung low.

"Oh well..." He mumbled softly. Patti looked over to Kiara. The black haired girl was lounging on one of the big chairs, her legs dangling over the arm of it.

"How about Kiara goes? She already found the witch, so she'd just be here all day anyways." Tsubaki grew a thoughtful expression.

"Actually..that would be a good idea. I know I haven't actually met this mayor before, so I don't know how good he is at lying, but I can't see anyone successfully lying to her."

"I think it's a good idea too." Sierra looked to her friend. "Are you on board for coming?" Lazily Kiara looked to the brunette beauty.

"Not particularly..but I really don't think I get a choice in this."

"**OKAY!** So umm, what are the rest of us supposed to do while you four go talk to the mayor?" Liz and Ember both stood up after Black Star's question.

"I'm going back to bed until I'm needed."

"I'm gonna find out about that sign." As they headed away from the group, Kidd sighed and began to stand.

"I should get in touch with my father and let him know about the added disappearance and apparent cover up. I'll also ask about any kind of terrain information, and I'll see if he's gotten any kind of update about the witch."

"I'm gonna get food."

"And I'm gonna go with Soul." Maka and Sierra both let out exasperated sighs at their partners' game-plan. Patti looked around at the emptying seats. She didn't want to go out in the cold, but at the same time she didn't want to stay cooped up at the lodge. Her eyes traveled around the room and a small movement caught her eye. **_'Is that a ...cat?'_** She kept her gaze on the shadow and after a few seconds it moved again.**_ 'IT IS A CAT!'_ **Without saying a thing about the animal she just discovered, Patti stood and crept after the feline as it stealthily moved out of the lobby and down the hall. Sierra looked to her brother. He was just sitting and seemed to have zoned out.

"Hunter?" His head snapped up at her.

"Eh?"

"What are you gonna do while we're with the mayor?" He shrugged.

"I don't know. I'll probably just hang around with Trace or something." After hearing his name, Trace opened an eye slightly and upon seeing nothing new happening closed it. Tsubaki looked to Black Star.

"What about you? You did raise the question."

"Train of course!" Tsubaki sweat dropped when Black Star shot up and grabbed Chrona. '**_Of course...'_ **The pinkette was struggling in Black Star's grip but failed to escape it. Maka sighed.

"Poor Chrona." Tsubaki and Sierra nodded silently in agreement. Kiara huffed and stood up. The other three girls looked to her.

"Get your coats and let's go. I wanna get this over with." Without arguments they all shuffled off to their rooms and retrieved their warm clothing. In under 10 minutes the four were at the door and ready to head out. Snow began the moment they stepped outside and only got heavier as they walked. The winds picked up too and made walking fast a lot harder. It had originally taken Kidd and Maka around 15 minutes to walk from the lodge to Town Hall, but it took them near 30. Once they made it to the tall eggshell white building they quickly entered. An elderly woman at the front desk looked up at the sound of their entry and gave them a weak smile.

"Hello ladies. What can I help you with?" The woman had short curly grey hair and wrinkles galore. Her nose was small, her eyes were squinty, her smile was crooked and missing a few teeth, and her skin was pasty white. Sierra cast her a warm smile and walked over.

"Hello. We'd like to meet with the mayor."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, but he's in meetings all day."

"Could you double check that? I'm sure he has time to squeeze us in." Without even batting an eye the old woman responded.

"He can't. Sorry." Tsubaki stepped next to Sierra.

"Please? It's very important that we speak with him."

"He has no time for any unscheduled meetings today."

"I was just here yesterday and he saw my friend and me with no issues.. Are you sure he's booked?" The elderly woman turned her head to Maka.

"I'm positive. You young ladies need to learn some manors. The mayor is a very busy man and has no time for social calls. Now please leave." Her tone was harsh and authoritative. Her eyes sent a hard glare to Kiara when she heard the younger girl release a snide snicker. "Is something funny?"

"Yes actually. There are a few things that I'm finding comical here. One would be how you think you have enough power to tell us to leave, and another would be how you think there's some kind of option in letting us see this man or not."

"You watch your mou-"

"Excuse me, I'm speaking here. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to interrupt someone while they're talking?" The woman's eye twitched in annoyance. "Now, we'll be meeting with the mayor. If anyone else comes in, please be so kind as to have them come back later." With that Kiara turned and walked down the hall. Maka and the other two sped to catch up with her. Upon reaching the mayor's door, Kiara opened it without hesitation. The loud sound startled the heavy set man sitting at his desk.

"Hurmphh! Haven't you heard of knocking, young lady?" He had a friendly disposition to himself. His eyes quickly ran over the four girls currently in his office and stopped at Maka. "Ah! Molly! So nice to see you again!" Maka sweat dropped.

"It's Maka, sir..." He didn't appear to hear her and kept speaking.

"What can I help you ladies with?" The girls all looked to Kiara, hoping she'd pick a place to start. She rolled her eyes, but took the situation in her hands anyways. She was about to cut right to it but she stopped before any words came out. Sierra had nudged her subtly, which caused Kiara to take a quick second look around the room. Through her peripheral vision she noticed a small red dot in between two books on the shelf diagonal to them.

"Why on earth would you chose to live someplace this cold?" Maka blinked a few times, her mouth agape, and Tsubaki's expression was similar to her friend's.

"Kiara wh-"

"Shhh, Princess. The grown ups are talking." She turned her attention back to the mayor. "What's this town usually like? Close knit or what?"

"Ohh, we're all very close! When it's someones' birthday, we're all there. If someone gets sick, the whole town sends flowers. It's that place where you say _'how do ya do?'_ to everyone you pass! Wonderful people live up here. Friendly as puppies. Though we don't just trust and listen to anyone!"

"Sounds like a nice place, except for the cold."

"Ha, it can get a bit nippy out! But we don't really notice it. Most of the people are all 5th or 6th generations in in the family trees. The cold doesn't do much too us anymore." She nodded, taking the information in.

"How does it handle the wild animals around here?"

"Our town's butcher doubles as the protection. He can take down two full grown bears. We've watched him do it! It's gruesome, but it's necessary. Not a lot of trade up here, as you'd probably guess."

"How active is this town usually?" The mayor looked to Sierra.

"Oh very active! Children are always playing in the snow, and there's always a few adults out and about." After saying that, he got up and walked over to his door and opened it. "I'm terribly sorry ladies, but I have quite a bit of work to get too..." Without any arguments the four girls left the room. Once the door shut, it was apparent that Maka was about to lose it on Kiara. Before she had the chance, Sierra clamped her hands down over the blonde's mouth quickly.

"Shh. Not here Maka. Save it till we're outside." The walk through the building was quick, and Maka wasted no time in shouting at the black haired girl the second they were back outside. Sierra and Tsubaki both stepped back and let the two girls settle things themselves.

"What the hell are you trying to pull? You go in there and get us all to see the mayor, and then you fucking blow what was probably the **ONE** chance we had in finding anything out by asking questions that, in absolutely no way, help us! Why the fucking hell would you do that?" Kiara just looked at Maka as she screamed, her face showing no kind of interest in what she was saying. This action only seemed to infuriate Maka further. "So now you're not gonna say anything? I just don't get it! You don't want to help us, so why would you even bother? It's pretty obvious that you don't just get forced into things that you are against doing. And why the hell are you so against trusting and opening up to anyone? What the hell have we done to make you hate us! Why can't you just stop being such a self centered bitch, just long enough to finish this stupid mission faster?" After what seemed like an hour long staring match, Kiara closed her eyes and sighed.

"You really know how to cut to the point, don't you Princess?" When her eyes opened and looked to Maka again, they were different. They didn't have any kind of annoyance or anger within them. They were just blank. "I didn't blow anything. I asked the things that I did because the mayor wasn't going to be able to answer anything we'd originally wanted to ask. He was being watched."

"What? But there was no one else in there but us.."

"He wasn't being watched by a person. He was being watched by a camera. I almost didn't notice it, but lucky for us, Sierra is sharp with things like that. Whoever is behind all the covering up has the mayor wrapped around his finger. I had to edit my questions, and I actually got more information out of that man than I thought I would." Tsubaki looked quizzically to her.

"Want to share that with us?"

"He said the town is tight-knit, that they don't notice the cold, that the butcher is their main form of protection, and that everyone is usually out and about."

"Okay, yeah.. We all heard that. How is that useful?"

"Think, Princess. What is there a lack of right now?" Maka stopped for a second and thought. The silence around them made it easier to organize her thoughts, and that's when it hit her.

"There's no one out! He said there's always someone out, but since we've been here, we've had to go to them in their homes or at their places of work!"

"Exactly. Then there's the fact that the butcher, their one line of defense, has gone missing and it took Liz and Patti finding his empty shop for us to learn that. And from how tough the mayor made him sound, that's not what the case should be. If he could fight off and kill two full grown bears, yet be taken by these monsters, that means that their a lot bigger and tougher than what was originally suspected. Also, he said that it's a tight-knit town and that the people who live here don't just trust and listen to outsiders. That means whoever is forcing everyone's silence is someone who has lived here their whole lives and was a very trusted person." Kiara turned and walked a few steps before pausing. "And I'll trust you and your friends when you all give me a damn good reason too. Got that, Princess?" Maka looked down, her face showing signs of embarrassment.

"Got it..." She mumbled under her breath. Sierra came up behind Maka with Tsubaki.

"Come on, let's head back. I'm sure Ember figured out that sign two seconds after we left, and we need to start really piecing all of this together."

* * *

><p><strong>At the Lodge<strong>

* * *

><p>When the four girls returned to the lodge, they immediately saw Lance and Soul almost exactly where they left them. Lance noticed them first, as he was facing the door.<p>

"Looks like they're back already." Soul turned in the oversized chair he was occupying and was met with Maka and Sierra walking towards them.

"Have you two really been here the whole time?"

"It's all you can eat. And because of Kiara we get it all for free!" Sierra rolled her eyes.

"How are you not fat?"

"You won't let me get fat. Every time you think I eat too much you work me till I pass out. Remember when we were all in Paris and we didn't end up doing much and I gained 3 pounds? You worked me till I lost 5 pounds.." He grew a thoughtful expression. "Though that was one workout I wouldn't mind you using all the time. Heh, who knew beds were that wimpy in France..." Soul started choking on the breath he'd just drawn in while Maka's face turned bright red at what Lance was insinuating. Sierra mockpunched him in the arm, though there was still a lot of force behind it.

"You're such an ass!"

* * *

><p><strong>Later... (like, 20 minutes later.)<strong>

* * *

><p>It took the group awhile to get everyone together and in one place. A few had thought they'd be meeting in Kiara's room and the others had assumed they were all to go to the lobby like they had that morning. It took multiple switches and messages to come to the decision to gather in Liz's room, as it was<p>

"Okay, so uh, who wants to start this off?"

"I will!" All eyes went to Ember. "It took some prodding and a white lie or two, but as it turns out, none of the staff has a key to the mystery door. And I found out what the sign on it says. 'General Manager'."

"You mean the general manager that fucked up our room reservation but wasn't here to own up to it? Seriously?" Hunter wasn't the only one to let out an unhappy groan. Everyone did.

"Well, that explains everything else. The people here are staying quiet because they had so much trust in him before all of this."

"Not to mention the fact that he can take away their electricity." Kiara nodded in agreement with Maka.

"And then there's the witch. There are just too many forces working against these people."

"Do we know why Chrona's room was broken into?"

"I have a theory about that actually." They all looked to Kidd. "The manager probably gave the witch our names. While I was speaking with my father earlier, I brought the break in up. He called for Medusa and she actually shed some light on the situation. It was apparently very known to all of the other witches that Medusa had a child and that she was doing unheard of experiments. The three of us came to the conclusion that the witch up here sent a small, abnormally intelligent monster to the lodge to go and snoop through Chrona's things and try to understand more about him and Black Blood."

"That would actually make a lot of sense."

"Alright, so what's the plan? Do we wait around here for the manager to show up and confront him, then get the witch or get the witch and then the manager?" Trace looked to Soul.

"Witch first. The manager left just before we got here and hasn't made an appearance since. We'd be wasting precious time sitting around here. Maybe by us leaving he'll come back to check on everything and make sure he hasn't been found out."

"I'm with Trace on this."

"I'd say everyone is. Will we head out tomorrow morning?"

"No. We'll leave tonight." Maka and the others looked to Kiara. She seemed completely serious and that confused them.

"Why on earth would we leave tonight? It gets colder at night no matter where you are, and we wouldn't be able to see properly!"

"Kiara, I usually go along with your plans, but this doesn't seem like a good one... We don't know the terrain at all. Besides, you said it yourself; there may be something else out there to be afraid of besides this witch and her monsters. We'd be sitting ducks out there at night." Most of the others nodded in agreement with Sierra and Maka. Even Trace seemed to be put-off by his miester's plan. It was Ember who came to Kiara's side.

"We'd be walking right into a shitfest if we left in the morning. If everyone is being watched as closely as we all think, then the manager and the witch both know that we've talked to the mayor twice. They know Liz and Patti found an empty butcher shop and that that would make us suspicious, and I doubt that the manager left the generator's room without cameras. By this point they're expecting us to show up, but they wouldn't be prepared for us to come this soon. It'd give us a little bit of an advantage over them and that's all we need."

"Well when you spell it out like that.. I'd say let's go with Kiara's plan." Hunter and Kidd nodded in agreement with Lance.

"What time do we leave?"

"More importantly, how do we get out? They lock the main doors first."

"They don't lock the windows. We'll have everyone who is on the forth and third floors just hide out in someone's room on the second or first floor." Liz looked to Ember.

"You expect us to jump out a window? Absolutely not!"

"Oh calm down! The snow is deep around the lodge so we won't break any legs. Besides, I'm sure you've jumped out of things a lot higher than 2 stories."

"Actually she hasn't.. she's always either in her weapons form or has Kidd carry her. Liz is a scaredy-cat." Liz glared over to her little sister.

"**PATTI!** Shut it. I am not a scaredy-cat!"

"Are too!" As the siblings started their petty argument, Tsubaki posed an option to Liz's concerns.

"How about everyone who doesn't want to jump out of a window goes to Maka and Trace's rooms, and everyone who is up for it goes to the rooms on the second floor?"

"Why don't we all just go into Maka's and/or Trace's room?" Trace spoke up again.

"I'm not letting more than two people in my room. It's too small for anymore than that."

"There's no way that thirteen people could quietly hide out in my room. Three others can." Sierra sighed.

"So who gets the first floor escape?"

"Definitely Chrona." Lance said, looking to the pink haired boy. "No offense, but I can't see you calmly jumping out of a two story window." Chrona sheepishly laughed.

"M-me neither.." Ember leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Why don't we figure out who's cool with jumping out of a window if need be first, and then go from there? I'll be the first volunteer."

"**I CAN MAKE ANY JUMP!** I'll jump from the fourth floor if I have to!"

"Always the willing volunteer, Black Star.. Hm, if I absolutely have to, I'll do the jump too."

"I've jumped from higher. Two stories is nothing." Unsurprisingly enough, all of the boys who were on the other floods said they'd jump, as did Tsubaki, Kiara, and Ember.

"Looks like you don't have any reason to jump after all, Kidd. Chrona, Liz, and Patti can stay in Maka's room and you and Sierra can go in Trace's." The grim reaper let out a sigh of relief. Sierra called everyone's attention to her.

"We have three hours until it's 11. Go and get a small bag together. Make sure it's got anything you think you'll need. At, like, 9:30 or 10 head to the room you want to and just wait from there. But try to avoid any staff." They all nodded and everyone headed off to their own room. Packing a small bag was more challenging than they all had thought it'd be. Mainly because no one was sure how long they'd be in the mountains, or what it'd be like there. There was also the issue of food and water. It took most of them all the way to 10 to get everything together. They avoided any and all of the employees and made their way to the rooms. Soul, Sierra, and Kidd left their doors unlocked for the people making the jumps. Liz didn't even bother since her room was located far away from everyone else's and at the front of the lodge, not the sides and back like everyone else's. At 10:50 they were all quiet. Maka's room was the first to hear the the click from the door being locked, and then Trace's heard it. They waited a few minutes just to be safe, and then the two rooms occupants opened the windows and exited. Maka looked to the window's above.

"How long do you think until they get out?"

"Give it five more minutes." The younger girl nodded at Sierra. Sure enough, five minutes later a window opened and blue hair become visible. Black Star stuck his head out, looked down, and then looked back as if he was listening to someone. He jumped up to the windowsill and then jumped down. He landed in a deep pile of snow.

"**YAA**-mphh"

"Keep quiet, you idiot!" Sierra whisper shouted as she shoved her hands over the boy's face. Moments later Tsubaki jumped down, then Lance, followed by four bags, and then Hunter. They heard another window open and out jumped Soul. His bag flew threw the air and landed next to him and then the window shut. Kidd scratched his head.

"Uhm, that's not supposed to happen. Where are Ember and Kiara?" Hunter and Trace watched the closed window intently. The light in the room had shut off.

"They probably heard someone outside the door and had to keep quiet."

"I hope they hurry up..it's way to cold for any complications." Minutes passed by but there were no changes in the window.

"I have a really bad feeling about this.. Should we go back in and find them?" Trace shook his head.

"They're coming." He looked over at Hunter. "Be ready to catch one of them." The brunette boy grumbled and looked up.

"Yeah yeah.." Everyone else sent the two questioning looks. Hunter just motioned up to the roof, making the others look there. Sure enough two bags came flying down and landed in the snow. Ember came into view first, her bright red velvet hair shining in the moonlight. Without hesitation she jumped off of the roof and started plummeting down towards the snow covered ground. Moments later Kiara was falling right behind her friend. It became a panic among the current DWMA students as to who was closest and could catch the two falling girls in time, though by the time they had reached them, none of them had any time to react.

"Seriously? You jumped with your eyes closed?" Purple irises came into view through dark mascara covered eyelashes and she beamed up at the one who caught her.

"Nice catch Tracey!" He rolled his eyes and dropped her into the snow.

"Always the gentleman..." When she looked over she saw Kiara standing by Hunter. Lance broke the silence.

"What happened with you two? How'd you end up on the roof?"

"Yeah, you guys were right behind me when I jumped." Ember stood and wiped the snow off of herself.

"We heard some employee outside in the hall. He was talking to his buddy who said something about one of the rooms being empty and how they needed to check all our ours. Kiara threw your bag out the window, shut it, and we went into the closet to hide. They came in, saw the empty room, and one started to pull out his walkie talkie. We exited the closet, had a little mini brawl, won, knocked the still semi concious one out, and tied them up."

"But there was the problem of other employees checking the rooms for them, so we bundled them up in some warm blankets and coats and put them in the doorway on the roof." Kiara went and picked up her and Ember's bags, tossing the latter to her friend, and started walking towards the mountains. "Let's go."

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><p>Yeah! That's all I have for now. I'm currently working on the next chapter, and lucky for everyone I wrapp up this absurd mission. Which means everything movies forward! Fiiinaalllyyy! Like, I'm so excited. I have so many things to put in place and I cannot fucking wait. Like you all find out where the hell Ember is from! (and trust me, it'll be a huge letdown when it finally comes to light :P)<p>

Okay, I'm done for the night. I hope that I wake up to new reviews and favorites and adds to story alerts!(: hehehe, okay, peace friends3

Mwah. Byyeess!


	13. IMPORTANT: READ THIS SERIOUSLY

**HI LONG LOST FRIENDS/READERS/PASSERBYERS!**

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><p>So I'm not gonna give you any kind of excuses for my lack of updating (but seriously, school stared a few weeks ago and I have two new jobs. That means no time for writting), but I do have semi good news:<p>

I'm rewriting this story. Like, total makeover. And here's why; too many grammar and spelling mistakes, too rushed, too much time wasted on that stupid first mission (which I honestly think sucked dick) (and that I still never finished up), just overall sloppy and awkward, and horrible new character introductions.

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><p>So I'm just changing things up. The way we meet Kiara, Trace, Ember, Hunter, Sierra and Lance will be different. Their backgrounds will be introduced differently. <strong>THERE WILL NOT BE ANY MISSIONS THAT TAKE LONGER THAN TWO CHAPTERS TO EXPLAIN, DESCRIBE, AND WRAP UP.<strong> (unless it's a huge story builder and something that can't be avoided).

Also I'll introduce those other beings (Gaurdians, Beings of Light, Beings of Dark, etc) better.

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><p>So I'll probably just post a whole new story with all of that (though I may just replace chapters and leave it under this one, <strong><em>IDK<em>**)

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><p><strong>OKAY, THAT'S ALL. THIS STORY IS OFFICALLY ON A HIATUS.<strong> I'll definitely post random unrelated stories while redoing this one, so yeah, look out for those!

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><p><strong>DUCES LOVEBUGS<strong>


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